m 


■ 


DOINGS   IN    MARYLAND. 


MATILDA  DOUGLAS. 


DOINGS  IN   MARYLAND, 


OR 


MATILDA   DOUGLAS. 


"TRUTH  18   STRANGER   THAN  FICTION." 


PHILADELPHIA: 

B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 
1811. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

J.   B.    LIPPINCOTT    &   CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


TO 


nun  IT    IP  "U"  IP.I  li  s 


{vs  io,» 


me 


IS     AFFECTIONATELY     DEDICATED. 


(v) 


M527G37 


A  PREFACE 

THAT   IS   NOT   A    PREFACE. 


A  preface,  I  believe,  by  common  consent  is  voted  a 
useless  appendage;  in  lieu  of  one,  therefore,  I  shall  simply 
forestall  the  carping  of  a  would-be  critic  by  asking  the 
reader  to  excuse  the  transfer  and  anachronism  which 
place  Allston,  the  great  American  artist,  in  Maryland 
instead  of  South  Carolina,  which  was,  as  all  the  world 
knows,  his  native  State.  Neither  has  the  biographical 
history  of  that  distinguished  man  been  strictly  followed 
in  these  pages,  because  such  delineation  is  not  considered 
necessary  in  a  work  of  imagination. 

No  straining  after  literary  distinction  has  been  at- 
tempted in  this  simple  story;  and  should  the  perusal  of 
it  help  to  sustain  one  fainting  heart,  and  establish  such 
in  the  path  of  virtue,  the  writer  will  feel  that  it  has  not 
been  written  in  vain. 


(  vii  ) 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Chapter  1 13 

Chapter  II 17 

Chapter  III.— The  Poultry  Doctor 20 

Chapter  IV.— The  County  School  Teacher  .         .         .         .23 

Chapter  V.—  Examination 28 

Chapter  VI.— Mattie 30 

Chapter  VII. — Malice 31 

Chapter  VIII.— Trouble 39 

Chapter  IX.— More  Trouble 42 

Chapter  X. — Bill  Bothermenot 47 

Chapter  XI. — Snowstorm 51 

Chapter  XII. — Death 58 

Chapter  XIII 62 

Chapter  XIV.— Charity         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     G7 

Chapter  XV.— The  Kelsoes 70 

Chapter  XVI.— The  Kelsoes— continued       .         .         .         .77 
Chapter  XVII.— "Trouble  Loves  a  Train."  .         .         .83 

Chapter  XVIII: — A  New  Acquaintance       .         .         .         .87 
Chapter  XIX. — Cogitation  and  Dreaming     .         .         .         .94 

Chapter  XX.— The  Gilts 98 

(ix) 


X 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Chapter  XXI.— Change 105 

Chapter  XXII.— Hugh  Haggis 112 

Chapter  XXIII.— Journey 120 

Chapter  XXIV.—  Dr.  Donkur 125 

Chapter  XXV.— Schools 131 

Chapter  XXVI.— Mary  Brown 136 

Chapter  XXVII.— A  Secret  Enemy 140 

Chapter  XXVIII. — Promotion 144 

Chapter  XXIX. — Mr.  Slytickle  wants  a  Present  .        .150 

Chapter  XXX. — The  Pleasure  Excursion      ....  153 

Chapter  XXXI.— The  Star-Chamber  Committee  .         .  158 

Chapter  XXXII.— Kev.  John  McGilhooter  .        .        .161 

Chapter  XXXIII.— Mr.  Thomas  Abettor     .        .         .         .166 

Chapter  XXXIV.— Letters 172 

Chapter  XXXV. — An  Examination 175 

Chapter  XXXVI. — More  Letters 181 

Chapter  XXXVII. — Secret  Conclave — Star-Chamber  Com- 
mittee         186 

Chapter  XXXVIII— Proposal .193 

Chapter  XXXIX.— The  Visit 197 

Chapter  XL. — Vote  of  Censure 203 

Chapter  XLL—  Triumph 208 

Chapter  XLII. — The  Congress  of  Asses       .         .         .         .213 

Chapter  XLIIL— Latin 219 

Chapter  XLIV. — Latin  and  Lovo '2-2-2 

OHAPTBB  X  L V.— Surprise 228 

Chapter  XLVL— Deceit 235 

Chapter  XL VII.— Discovery 239 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

Chapter  XLVIII  —News 243 

Chapter  XLIX.— Refusal 247 

Chapter  L. — Pay-Day 250 

Chapter  LI. — A  Visit 255 

Chapter  LII. — Surprise 258 

Chapter  LIII. — Mattie  among  the  Tombs     ....  263 

Chapter  LIV. — Recovery 270 

Chapter  LV.— A  Wedding 274 

Chapter  LVI. — Authors  and  Critics 277 

Chapter  LVII. — Mattie  an  Author       ...  .  280 

Chapter  LVIIL— Death 284 

Chapter  LIX. — Remorse       .         .  ....  286 

Chapter  LX.— The  Artist 291 

Chapter  LXI. — Dost  thou  Remember  ?  ....  295 

Chapter  LXII 299 

Chapter  LXIIL— Duplicity 306 

Chapter  LXIV.— Farewell 313 


DOINGS   IN    MARYLAND, 


OR 


MATILDA  DOUGLAS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

"  Incomprehensible, 

Budding  immortal, 
Thrust  all  amazedly 

Under  life's  portal; 
Born  to  a  destiny 

Clouded  in  mystery, 
Wisdom  itself  cannot 

Fathom  its  history." 

Brave  old  Maryland,  famous  alike  for  the  valor  of  her 
sons,  the  beauty  of  her  daughters,  and  the  impetuosity  of 
her  brickbats,  has  also  a  metropolis,  gentle  reader,  of  which 
she  has  no  cause  to  be  ashamed.  Some  miles  northeast 
of  this  beautiful  and  rapidly  extending  mart,  and  in  violent 
contrast  with  its  majestic  buildings,  stands  a  dilapidated 
log  hut.  A  little  clearing  or  farm  surrounds  the  dwelling, 
and  contiguous,  though  extraneous  to  the  primitive  home- 
stead, is  an  extensive  woodland.  The  uncouth  establish- 
ment is  small;  but  the  tale  of  sadness  its  aspect  tells  is 
large  enough. 

Cattle,  field,  and  fence,  to  the  most  cursory  observer, 
give  startling  evidence  of  neglect  and  wrong.  It  is  winter, 
bitter,  biting  winter,  and  the  scanty  woodpile  at  the  door 

2  (13) 


14  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

(being,  indeed,  but  little  more  than  a  brush-heap),  with  its 
broken  axe,  and  inadequate  pretensions  to  warmth  and 
comfort,  looks  like  some  associations  gotten  up  ostensi- 
bly for  the  relief  of  the  poor. 

The  jaunty  smoke,  born  of  twigs  and  rubbish,  issuing 
from  the  tumble-down  chimney,  poises  itself  for  an  instant, 
as  if  to  take  a  view  of  the  surrounding  evidences  of  bleak 
poverty ;  but  it  does  not  linger  as  though  unwilling  to 
leave  the  place  in  its  unsolaced  sadness,  or  hover  over,  cover- 
ing with  the  mantle  of  charity  what  it  cannot  redeem ;  it 
curls  (though  not  its  lip)  its  entire  body,  and  shifts,  and 
twists,  and  flirts  away,  scorning  even  to  smoke  in  such 
society.  Thus  the  heartless  worldling  just  arisen  from 
the  ash-heap,  in  the  flush  of  new-born  greatness,  despising 
parentage  and  early  association,  curls  the  contemptuous 
lip,  and  denies  to  each  antecedent  a  friendly  recognition. 

A  horse  stalks  yonder  in  a  place  once  intended  for  an 
orchard  ;  the  fence  is  now  broken  and  gone,  and  the  neigh- 
boring swine,  with  the  implements  nature  gave  them,  have 
plowed  the  soil  and  grubbed  up  the  roots  of  the  trees. 
Like  many  a  grave  of  hope  look  the  deep  excavations 
made  by  their  relentless  snouts.  Of  the  few  that  remain, 
the  pendant  branches  are  greedily  gnawed  by  the  famish- 
ing cattle ;  and  should  a  tiny  twig  for  an  instant  droop  its 
fragile  form  within  reach  of  their  ravenous  jaws,  it  is  in- 
stantly (not  spiritualized,  however,  but)  rematerialized  by 
those  needy  ghosts  that  in  hungered  unrest  roam  over  the 
premises. 

The  lien,  the  only  one  left,  is  seeking  refuge  from  the 
piercing  blast  on  the  sunny  side  of  a  gooseberry-bush,  and 
pressing  alternately  to  her  feathery  breast,  for  warmth,  her 
freezing  feet.  The  development  of  heat  in  Biddy's  system 
is  rather  deficient  just  now,  but  little  crop  being  in  the 
craw. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  15 

Chanticleer  stands  faithfully,  though  sullenly,  by  her 
side  ;  he  no  longer  crows  defiance,  but  surveys  surrounding 
desolation  with  such  stoical  austerity,  that  the  child 
Matilda,  that  would  be  playful  only  for  the  sob  in  her 
throat,  calls  him  Marius. 

"  I  say,  neighbor,  that  thare  cow  must  be  a  tarnel  green- 
horn if  she  gives  them  folks  any  milk  with  the  fodder  she 
gits,"  said  a  passing  countryman  to  his  fellow-traveler.  But 
Brindle  is  an  amiable  animal,  and  submissive  to  those 
creatures  who,  though  differing  from  herself  in  the  scale 
of  being,  are  nevertheless  suffering  the  like  privations,  and 
she  gives  them  all  the  nourishment  she  can  manufacture 
from  the  meager  material  placed  at  her  disposal. 

"  It  grieves  me  to  offer  you  such  a  pitiful  handful,"  said 
the  little  Matilda,  as  she  dispensed  to  the  cow  her  morning 
meal  ;  "  but  don't  get  out  of  patience,  good  Brinny  ;  the 
Lord  will  send  the  sweet  young  grass  again,  by-and-by, 
and  then  you  shall  have  plenty  to  eat,  and  you  will  give 
me  plenty  of  milk  to  make  nice  custard  for  my  poor  sick 
mother,  will  you  not,  Brinny?"  And  the  child  patted  the 
shaggy  sides  of  the  shivering,  starved-out  animal,  and 
peered  coaxingly  into  her  eyes  as  if  to  conciliate  the 
brute  and  assure  her  own  anxious  little  heart  that  "  dear 
old  Brinny,"  as  she  pettingly  called  the  creature,  was 
not  angry  because  of  her  wretched  breakfast.  Child 
as  the  speaker  was,  she  felt  how  extremely  dependent  her 
family  were  upon  the  sustenance  which  they  derived 
from  the  cow,  now  the  only  one  they  possessed. 

Poor  little  Mattie !  In  tracing  her  history  we  shall  find 
this  was  not  the  only  brute  she  had  to  conciliate  in  her 
progress  through  life. 

The  family  thus  situated  consisted  of  three  persons, — a 
father,  a  mother,  and  the  little  girl  alluded  to,  daughter  to 
both,  and  an  only  child. 


16  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

A  father  !  Good  gracious  ! — what  a  predicament  for  a 
man  to  place  his  family  in  !  the  reader  may  well  exclaim. 

We  reply,  Alas  1  yes  ;  and  such  a  man,  too  !  "  With  the 
talents  of  an  angel  a  man  may  be  a  fool,"  says  the  poet ; 
and  certainly  this  man  proved  the  truth  of  the  assertion, 
for  he  indeed  mistook  life's  great  errand  "in  a  supreme 
point."  Blest  by  nature  with  a  high  order  of  intellect,  by 
friends  with  a  superior  education,  by  fortune  with  an  ex- 
alted social  position  and  handsome  patrimony,  he  sacrificed 
all  these  advantages  and  more  for  the  fatal  pleasures,  worse 
than  death,  that  are  found  in  the  destroying  cup, — filled 
with  the  costly  juice  at  first,  and  very  social ;  but  when  at 
last  replenished  with  anything  that  would  produce  an 
oblivion  and  steep  his  senses  in  forgetfulness,  very  solitary. 
"Where  are  now  the  jovial  friends  that  sported  with  me 
in  my  summer  days,  and  quaffed  rich  nectar  from  my 
brimming  bowl,  that  vowed  o'er  rosy  cups  eternal  amity 
to  me  and  mine  ?"  "  The  spider's  most  attenuated  thread, 
that  breaks  with  every  breeze,  is  cord,  is  cable,  to  man's 
tender  tie  on  worldly  friendship." 

Added  to  intellect,  nature's  patent  of  nobility,  streams 
of  the  best  blood  from  two  nations  mingled  in  this  man's 
burning  veins  ;  but  what  of  that?  Better  their  contents 
had  been  water,  if  by  being  such  the  fiery  influence  that 
blighted  his  mind  and  heart  would  have  been  quenched, 
and  his  helpless  family  rescued  from  destitution  and  death, 
— for  death  is  even  now  hard  upon  their  track. 

It  is  needless  to  note  the  progressive  stages  by  which 
this  appalling  change  in  the  man  came  on,  or  to  dwell  upon 
the  mortal  agony  suffered  by  his  ever-faithful,  ever-endur- 
ing wife,  who,  with  a  fortitude  which  deathless  love  alone 
could  inspire,  clung  to  his  fallen  fortune,  and  became  with 
him  an  exile  and  a  wanderer. 

.No  means  that  a  loving  heart  could  devise — and  what 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  If 

will  not  love  devise  to  benefit  its  object ! — were  left  untried 
to  break  the  demon-woven  spell  by  which  he  was  bound, 
to  win  him  back  to  himself,  to  her,  and  to  the  society  he 
was  so  eminently  calculated  to  adorn.  But  all  was  over 
now,  the  last  effort  had  failed,  hope  deferred  had  sickened 
both  soul  and  body,  the  stricken  wife  meekly  resigned  her 
cause  into  the  hands  of  Him  who  said,  "What  thou 
knowest  not  now  thou  shalt  know  hereafter. "  And  with 
many  an  arrow  fixed  deeply  in  her  bleeding  heart,  she  had 
sought  this  lone  solitude  to  lay  her  down  and  die.  Oh, 
man  !     Oh,  woman,  woman  ! 

Of  such  parentage  of  those  thus  unfortunate  in  worldly 
gear  and  worldly  fame,  but  who  were  distinguished  for 
noble  wealth  of  mind  and  heart,  Matilda  Douglas  was 
descended. 


CHAPTER    II. 

"Her  daily  teachers  had  been  woods  and  rills, 
The  busy  bee,  the  dewy  petal  sweet, 
The  silence  that  is  in  the  starry  sky, 
The  rushing  tempest  'midst  the  lonely  hills." 

"  Mattie,  my  love,  I  have  decided  you  must  go  to  school. 
The  best  I  can  do  under  the  circumstances  is  to  send  you 
to  the  district  school.  I  know  the  walk  is  a  long  and  a 
lonely  one,  but  you  can  take  a  piece  with  you  for  your 
noon's  repast,  and  stay  at  school  until  evening;  and  when 
the  weather  is  severe  you  must  remain  at  home.  I  shall 
arrange  that  with  the  teacher." 

Mattie  was  seated  by  her  mother  just  then,  and  most 
happily  oblivious  to  everything  save  the  contents  of  the 
book  in  her  hand.     At  this  announcement  she  looked  up 

2* 


18  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

in  bewildered  astonishment,  and  had  a  boulder  from  the 
mountain  summit  been  advancing  upon  her  she  could 
scarcely  have  evinced  more  alarm. 

"Oh,  mother,"  she  exclaimed,  every  nerve  in  her  body 
quivering  with  emotion,  "  do  not  send  me  to  school — please 
do  not !  I  will  study  at  home,  I  will  read  [she  was  always 
reading],  I  will  do  anything  you  wish,  only  don't  send  me 
to  school.  I  cannot  go  mother,  indeed  I  cannot !"  The  big 
tears  that  fell  like  rain,  the  chest  that  heaved,  and  the  sobs 
that  choaked  her  utterance  all  attested  how  exceeding 
averse  she  was  to  the  proposed  arrangement. 

Mrs.  Douglas  perfectly  understood  the  nature  of  her 
daughter's  objections  to  school,  and  her  own  heart  bled 
afresh  from  wounds  those  objections  probed  ;  but  she  felt 
it  to  be  her  duty  to  insist,  and  when  love  and  duty  spoke, 
they  silenced  every  minor  voice  which  could  appeal  to  the 
understanding  of  that  noble  mother. 

Mattie  as  yet  had  had  but  little  contact  with  the  world 
beyond  her  own  fireside.  The  mother's  silent,  though  not 
the  less  vigilant,  care  had  sedulously  guarded  her  helpless 
one  from  the  rude  stare  her  coarse  and  homely  attire  was 
sure  to  attract,  or  from  the  ruder  remarks  her  father's  de- 
grading conduct  might  elicit,  and,  indeed,  from  all  those 
thousand  impertinences  and  wrongs  which  helpless  poverty 
is  ever  certain  to  suffer  from  coarse  and  vulgar  prosperity; 
yet  the  fine  instincts  of  the  child,  and  her  characteristic 
sensibility,  caused  her  to  dread  some  such  oppression, — 
the  inheritance  of  weakness  and  misfortune, — and  she 
shrank  back  with  trembling  dismay  to  the  covert  of  her 
own  lowly  hearth,  and  to  the  love  that  hallowed  it.  Mat- 
tic,  though  unschooled  was  not  untaught ;  Mrs.  Douglas 
was  an  educated  woman,  and  her  daughter  had  been  her 
heart-pupil  ever  since  the  child's  perceptions  were  capable 
of  earliest   cultivation.      Alas!    now    the    health    of  the 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  19 

mother-teacher  was  completely  broken,  the  least  exertion 
caused  her  days  of  prostration,  and  well  she  knew  the  fact 
that  her  pilgrimage  on  earth  was  fast  drawing  to  a  close. 
How  doubly  important,  then,  that  the  education  of  the 
child  should  rapidly  progress!  Sorrow  had  sapped  the 
foundation  of  the  mother's  strength,  the  tide  of  time  bear- 
ing her  upon  its  bosom  was  swiftly  ebbing  on  to  the  great 
ocean  of  eternity,  Mattie  would  then  be  left  to  meet  the 
world  poor  and  alone.     God  help  her! 

11  If  I  could  but  see  her  educated  before  I  go  hence,"  said 
the  mother,  "  death  would  be  divested  of  half  its  bitterness." 
And  the  struggle  of  her  heart  in  prayer, — the  petition  she 
urged  with  most  vehemence  and  for  which  she  would  take 
no  denial, — was,  "  If  all  else  of  earthly  good  be  denied  me, 
Thou  alone  knowest  for  what  purpose,  who  art  all-power- 
ful to  grant,  0  grant  me  this  one  request, — the  education 
of  my  child!" 

This  life-blood  gurgle  from  the  stricken  mother's  heart 
was  echoed  in  the  courts  of  heaven,  and  as  faithful,  holy 
prayer  ever  will  be  answered,  so  was  this,  but  how  mys- 
teriously time  alone  can  develop.  "  Thy  paths  are  in  the 
sea,  0  God !" 


20  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE     POULTRY     DOCTOR. 

"But  now  our  quacks  are  gamesters,  and  they  play 
With  craft  and  skill  to  ruin  and  betray." 

Mrs.  Flax  is  in  great  distress,  her  young  poultry  are 
infected  with  an  unknown  disease,  many  have  died,  more 
are  dying.  The  anxious  woman  has  exhausted  the  cata- 
logue of  cures  for  sick  chickens  possessed  by  herself  and 
henwife  friends  for  miles  around,  and  yet  the  pestilence 
rages  with  unabated  violence.  The  dinner-horn  has  been 
blown,  and  Mrs.  Flax  has  been  personally  summoned  to 
attend  the  dishing  of  the  pot-apple-pie  ;  but  still  she 
lingers  in  the  poultry-yard,  still  administers  the  ineffica- 
cious dose,  still  frets  and  worries  with  a  watery  eye,  and 
still  the  Shanghais  gape  and  stagger  and  die. 

A  carryall,  drawn  by  a  horse,  or  rather  a  mare,  limping 
and  evidently  much  lamed,  advances  up  the  lane*;  beast 
and  man  (excuse  the  precedence)  halt  in  a  line  with  Mrs. 
Flax. 

"  Want  any  clocks  repaired  to-day,  ma'am  V — from  a 
voice  in  the  wagon. 

Mrs.  Flax  in  surly  mood  replies,  "Haven't  got  any 
clocks  to  want  repairs." 

"  Won't  you  buy  one,  then,  ma'am  ? — have  some  fine 
ones;  sell  "era  cheap." 

11 1  am  not  able  to  buy  clocks  or  anything  else,  and  never 
expect  to  be  ;  luck  is  agin  me.  Here  are  all  my  beautiful 
(locks  of  chickens  and  turkeys  that  I  expected  to  bring 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  21 

something  worth  while  a-dying  off  'most  as  fast  as  I  ran 
count  'em I — It  is  too  bad,  and  work  as  hard  as  I  do!" 
sobbed  the  overburdened  Mrs.  Flax. 

"  Well,  ma'am,  there  is  no  occasion  for  any  more  of  them 
to  die,"  soothingly  said  the  peddler,  "  for  I  am  provided 
with  a  medicine  that  will  cure  all  the  ills  a  winged  and 
feathered  animal  is  heir  to.  I  made  it  myself,  ma'am,  and 
I  am  on  my  way  to  Washington  to  get  a  patent  for  it.  I 
sell  it  everywhere,  and  the  reason  you  have  not  heard  on 
it  is  because  I  have  never  been  in  this  part  of  the  country 
before.     Will  you  have  a  box,  ma'am  ?" 

"  How  much  do  you  ask  for  one  ?"  inquired  the  troubled 
mourner  of  departed  poultry. 

11  Only  a  dollar,  ma'am,  and  very  cheap  at  that  when 
you  consider  what  a  great  cure  it  is." 

11  But  s'pose  it  don't  cure  at  all,  then  there  will  be  another 
dollar  thrown  away!"  grumbled  the  pennywise  matron. 

"  We  can  easily  manage  that,  ma'am,  if  you  are  agreed, — 
I  will  stay  here  for  a  few  days  and  give  the  medicine  my- 
self," said  the  cute  clock-tinker,  with  an  eye  to  food  and 
rest  for  his  sore-footed  animal,  "and  if  in  the  mean  time 
the  medicine  does  no  good,  I  will  not  charge  you  a  cent ! 
Kow,  that  is  fair ;   is  it  not,  ma'am  ?" 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  but  that  it  is.  Come  to  the  house 
anyhow,  and  talk  to  my  husband  about  it,"  said  the  hen- 
wife,  rejoiced  at  even  a  ray  of  hope,  provided  it  was  a 
cheap  ray,  for  her  perishing  brood. 

For  weeks  past  the  weather  had  been  both  unpleasant 
and  unhealthy.  St.  Swithin  seems  to  have  influenced 
more  than  his  share  of  days  this  year,  and  drizzle  has 
succeeded  to  shower,  and  shower  to  drizzle,  until  the  earth 
is  saturated  with  moisture,  and  everything  upon  the  earth 
enveloped  in  damp  and  noisome  exhalations.  The  evil 
resulting  from  this  condition  of  atmosphere  is  apparent 
upon   both   animal   and   vegetable   life.     The  mildewing 


22  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

blight  affects  destructively  flowers,  fruits,  and  grain.  The 
sluggish  blood  creeps  slowly  through  the  veins,  the  bane- 
ful chill  crawls  deadly  over  the  body  like  some  huge,  foul- 
some  caterpillar  drags  its  length  along,  and  in  its  silent, 
sly,  and  slimy  progress  dulls  the  ear,  dims  the  eye,  and 
spreads  itself  upon  the  livid  lips.  But  now  the  Wind,  oft  a 
capricious  tyrant  (as  the  harmonious  Thomson  sings),  again 
has  changed  his  bleak  location  and  his  sullen  mood ;  now 
relenting,  deigns  to  dry  the  tears  of  earth  his  cruelty 
occasioned.  He  removes  from  her  saddened  face  the  in- 
cumbent veil  of  clouds  his  jealousy  had  interposed  to 
obscure  the  varied  charms  of  all-bearing  mother  from 
the  ardent  gaze  of  her  lover-husband — the  great  and 
glorious  Sun.  The  sun,  happy  again  to  meet  in  fond  em- 
brace his  sorrowing  spouse,  with  peevish  ire  accuses  not 
of  coquetry  or  wanton  dalliance  with  the  sporting  winds, 
but  richly  spreads  around  his  golden  mantle  of  charity 
and  love.  With  renovating  smile  he  wakes  anew  the 
stagnant  powers  of  latent  life,  and  calls  into  active  use 
the  best  and  purest  feelings  of  the  heart.  With  pene- 
trating glance  he  absorbs  the  unwholesome  damp,  expands 
and  paints  with  loveliest  hues  earth's  teeming  produce. 
The  northeast  blast,  humid  and  sickly,  is  replaced  by 
genial  and  spicy  breezes  of  the  "effusive  South."  The 
full-blown  spring  has  ripened  into  luscious  summer  ;  the 
laughing  landscape,  the  field,  the  garden,  and  the  tuneful 
grove,  all  oiler  adoration  sweet  in  perfume  and  in  song. 
The  joyous  bleating  from  a  thousand  hills  finds  glad  re- 
sponse in  the  exulting  bosom  of  earth's  noblest  sons. 
"  Man  supreme  walks  amid  glad  creation,  musing  praise, 
ami  looking  lively  gratitude."  Not  so  poor,  groveling 
Mrs.  Flax,  who,  although  her  "ploomy  people,"  too,  have; 
caught  the  healing  breeze  and  ceased  to  die,  acknowledges 
no  kind  Providence  to  thank  and  bless:  she  only  blesses 
Mr.  Snipe  and  his  patent  sawdust  pills. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  23 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   COUNTY   SCHOOL   TEACHER. 

"  For  craft  once  known, 
Does  teach  fools  wit;  leaves  the  deceiver  more." 

Me.  Snipe,  the  poultry  doctor,  is  seated  on  a  step  of  the 
woodbine-covered  porch  ;  Mrs.  Flax  is  sitting  on  the  porch 
bench,  and  as  is  her  custom  when  not  otherwise  employed, 
busily  knitting*. 

Says  Mr.  Snipe,  "I  am  much  pleased  with  this  part  of 
the  country.  I  have  often  heard  of  the  hospitality  of  the 
South,  but  never  before  had  the  happiness  to  partake  of  it. 
I  should  like  to  stay  here  among  such  kind-hearted  people  ; 
but  as  I  am  not  able  to  do  hard  work,  what  could  I  get  to 
do?" 

Mrs.  Flax  is  nattered  by  this  adroit  allusion  to  her  kind- 
ness of  heart,  and  she  replies,  "  Well,  you  are  the  best 
hand  among  the  poultry  that  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  I 
would  be  glad,  too,  if  you  could  stay  hereabouts." 

Mr.  Snipe  continued,  "  I  heard  your  husband  say  at 
dinner  to-day,  that  the  School  Committee  meet  to-morrow 
to  consider  the  subject  of  education  and  to  elect  a  teacher. 
Will  you  mention  me  to  him  in  that  connection?" 

"Yes,  I  will,"  promptly  responded  Mrs.  Flax.  "I  am 
glad  you  thought  of  it;  hand  me  yonder  sun-bonnet  and  I 
will  go  to  my  husband  at  once." 

Thus  equipped,  and  with  the  knitting  still  in  progress, 
Mrs.  Flax  wends  her  way  to  the  field  in  which  Mr.  Flax 
is  employed. 


24  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"  Husband,  come  and  rest  awhile  under  the  shade  of  the 
tree  ;  I  have  something  considerable  to  say  to  you." 

"  I  should  think  it  must  be  something  very  considerable, 
that  you  could  not  wait  until  I  came  home,"  said  Mr.  Flax, 
seating  himself  upon  the  grass,  and  wiping  from  his  sun- 
burnt brow  the  flowing  perspiration. 

She  commenced,  "  Well,  Mr.  Snipe " 

"  Ah  !  I  guessed  there  was  a  Snipe's  bill  in  the  mud," 
interrupted  Mr.  Flax,  with  a  derisive  laugh. 

11  Well,  husband,  he  wishes  you  to  present  his  name  to- 
morrow to  the  committee  as  an  applicant  for  the  district 
school." 

"  W-h-e-w  1"  whistled  Mr.  Flax.  "  What  next  ?  doctor, 
teacher, — I  suppose  preacher  next  1  What  is  it  that  a  uni- 
versal Yankee  can't  do  ?" 

"But,  husband,  he  is  so  useful  among  the  poultry,  and 
so  obliging,  that  really  I  wish  he  could  be  kept  in  the 
neighborhood.  He  hunts  the  woods  for  the  turkey-nests, 
and  feeds  the  setting  hens;  he  drives  the  cows  up  to  be 
milked,  and  brings  me  pails  of  water  from  the  spring;  yes- 
terday, he  even  emptied  the  slops  for  me;  indeed,  he  is  as 
useful  about  the  house  as  a  cooking-stove.  I  will  willingly 
give  him  his  board  for  his  help." 

"  Remember  you  have  his  horse  to  board  also,"  said  the 
husband. 

"  I  know,  but  then  he  said  he  would  milk  the  cows  in 
cold  weather,  and  split  the  wood.  Indeed,  husband,  I  wish 
we  could  manage  to  keep  him  about  us.  You  know  you 
said  when  you  got  the  mortgage  that  is  on  our  place  paid 
off  you  would  let  me  have  help;  but  I  am  afraid  I  shall  be 
worked  to  death  before  it  comes."  Mrs.  Flax  was  instantly 
again  in  oik'  of  her  fretful  moods. 

"J  don't  think  you  work  any  harder  now  than  you  did 
in    your   native   Pennsylvania,"  said    Mr.    Flax,   a   little 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  25 

piqued,  as  a  man  is  sure  to  be  who  hears  his  wife  com- 
plain. 

"It  is  not  customary  for  rich  men's  wives  to  work  in 
Maryland,  though,"  replied  the  wife. 

"  But  I  am  not  rich,"  said  the  husband. 

"  You  will  be  when  you  get  the  place  cleared  of  the 
encumbrance  your  uncle  left  upon  it ;  and  I  am  sure  I  do 
all  I  can  to  help  the  cause  ;  I  make  as  much  from  my 
butter  and  poultry  as  I  can.  Oh,  yes ;  that  reminds  me. 
S'pose  the  poultry  were  to  get  sick  again,  what  would  I 
do  without  Mr.  Snipe  ?  He  will  not  sell  the  receipt  for 
the  poultry  pills  for  anything  I  can  offer  him." 

"As  to  that,"  replied  Mr.  Flax,  "  I  believe  the  change 
in  the  weather  had  more  to  do  in  improving  the  health  of 
the  poultry  than  his  pills ;  but  since  you  are  so  anxious 
to  retain  Mr.  Snipe's  services,  I  have  no  objection.  We 
have  no  children  to  send  to  school,  and  if  those  who  have 
do  not  object,  I  need  not.  So  to  please  you,  wife,  I  will 
mention  him  to  the  School  Committee ;  but  I  shall  not 
recommend  him, — I  warn  you  of  that  fact !" 

On  the  day  following  this  conversation  between  Mr. 
Flax  and  his  thrifty  wife,  the  promised  nomination  was 
made,  Mr.  Flax  remarking,  however,  that  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  man's  abilities,  either  as  a  scholar  or  teacher,  "  but 
the  committee,"  he  said,  "  could  examine  him  and  judge 
for  themselves.  Of  one  thing  I  would  speak  positively, 
Mr.  Snipe  could  be  obtained  cheap." 

The  School  Committee  here  adverted  to  consisted  of 
three  persons, — Mr.  Flax,  Mr.  Hedge,  and  Mr.  Flum,  the 
last  named  being  President  of  the  School  Board  and  Chair- 
man of  the  Examining  Committee.  We  regret,  however, 
that  we  are  compelled  to  admit  those  positions  of  honor 
and  responsibility  were  not  bestowed  upon  the  recipient 
in  consequence  of  any  superior  intelligence  or  erudition  to 

3 


26  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

■which  he  could  lay  claim,  but  simply  in  consideration  of 
broad  lands  which  he  possessed.  He  was  the  largest  tax- 
payer in  the  neighborhood. 

A  rule  of  the  board  required  that  all  business  pertain- 
ing to  the  schools  should  be  held  under  advisement  a  week 
before  receiving  definite  action  ;  consequently,  that  day 
week  was  appointed  for  the  examination  of  Mr.  Snipe  and 
other  applicants,  should  such  present  themselves. 


CHAPTER    Y. 

EXAMINATION. 

"  But  as  a  dog  that  turns  the  spit, 
Bestirs  himself,  and  plies  his  feet 
To  climb  the  wheel,  but  all  in  vain, 
His  own  weight  brings  him  down  again, 
And  still  he's  in  the  self-same  place 
Where  at  his  setting  out  he  was." 

At  the  appointed  time  Mr.  Snipe  presented  himself  to 
the  committee,  and,  no  other  applicants  appearing,  Mr. 
Flum  proceeded  with  the  examination. 

"What  do  you  propose  to  teach,  sir?"  inquired  the 
examiner. 

"  I  can  try  a  hand  at  'most  anything,"  replied  the  would- 
be  teacher. 

i 

"Do  you  understand  English  grammar V1 
11 1  have  forgot  some  now,  but  when  I  left  school  I  could 
say  'most  all  through  the  book." 

"  Well,  sir,  what  is  ;i  monosyllable?" 

"  I  never  heard  of  it  before,  sir. 

"  What,  then,  is  a  dip-thong  ?" 

The  teacher  began  to  scratch  his  head.     "  Well,  a  thong 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  21 

is  a  leather  strap,  and  I  suppose  a  dip-thong  is  a  thong 
that  has  been  dipped  in  something-." 

"Oh,  no,  sir,  you  are  quite  mistaken;  it  is  not  leather 
at  all,  or  anything  that  has  been  dipped  either  in  grease 
or  tar.     It  is  something  in  grammar!" 

11  Well,  well,  the  fact  is  my  mind  has  been  so  taken  up 
with  affairs  of  greater  importance,  such  as  the  prepara- 
tion of  hen-pills  and  the  like,  that  I  have  suffered  those 
little  matters  to  escape  me;  but  when  I  get  into  their 
neighborhood  again  I  can  soon  catch  'em  up." 

"  Are  you  expert  in  figures  ?" 

"I  am,  indeed,  sir.  I  can  make  figures  as  fast  as  any 
man  you  ever  saw." 

"  What,  then,  is  ratio  ?" 

11  It  is  every  man's  share  of  the  provender." 

"Oh,  no,  you  mean  rations;  but  I  mean  the  ratio  of 
numbers." 

"Well,  it  is  every  man's  share  of  the  numbers,  then," 
said  the  candidate,  quite  confidently. 

Mr.  Flum  glanced  furtively  at  a  paper  which  he  held  in 
his  hand,  but  appeared  unable  to  find  the  place,  and  as  he 
could  not  therefore  contest  the  question  he  gave  the  appli- 
cant the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

"  How  would  you  teach  spelling  ?" 

"  Spelling  cannot  be  taught,  sir;  it  is  a  natural  talent. 
Who  do  you  suppose  taught  Johnson  and  Webster  to 
spell  all  the  great  hard  words  in  their  dictionaries  ?" 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  Mr.  Flum,  but  as  the  parties 
could  not  be  named  who  had  taught  Johnson  and  Web- 
ster to  spell,  he  gave  up  that  point  also. 

"  What  system  do  you  follow  in  teaching  writing?" 

"  Xo  genius  ever  wrote  well,  sir," — quite  dictatoriallv, — 
"consequently,  if  you  should  attempt  to  teach  a  boy,  and 
he  had  genius  in  him,  the  divine  essence  might  be  ex- 


28  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

pelled,  dripped  off  at  the  end  of  the  pen  and  drowned  in  the 
iak.  Plenty  of  genius  has  been  killed  by  ink  and  too  much 
teaching.  The  man  who  would  attempt  to  teach  writing 
ought  to  be  indicted  by  a  grand  jury  as  a  public  nuisance." 

"  You  certainly  have  some  very  original  ideas  about  teach- 
ing," said  the  examiner.  "  You  certainly  are  in  advance  of 
the  age,  at  least  you  are  in  advance  of  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try. I  suppose  you  are  from  the  place  where  most  of  the  new- 
fangled doctrines  originate, — a  regular  Down-Easter,  eh?" 

"  Y-e-a-s,  from  towards  the  place  where  day  breaks  and 
sun  rises,"  said  Mr.  Snipe  in  a  manner  that  he  thought 
would  be  very  significant;  but  the  insinuation  was  all 
lost  u  pon  Mr.  Flum. 

"  Born  anywhere  about  Boston  Common  ?" 

11  No,  not  exactly  on  the  Common  ;  but  all  along  the 
shore,  from  Nantucket  to  Cape  Cod,  as  the  Indian  said." 

u  Speaking  about  that  Boston  Common,  I  wonder  you 
calculating  Yankees  can  spare  so  much  waste  ground, — in 
your  pri  ncipal  city,  too.  For  my  part,  I  think  it  had  better 
be  plowed  up  and  planted  in  potatoes  than  kept  there 
for  demagogues  and  fanatics  to  congregate  idlers  and 
make  long  harangues  about  women's  rights  and  men's 
wrongs  1  Why,  sir,  women  have  all  the  rights  they  have 
any  right  to;  and  as  for  men,  if  they  all  had  their  rights, 
the  Lord  help  'em,  not  many  would  be  left  to  walk  the 
earth  without  the  iron  ornaments  of  cuffs  and  collars, 
bulls  and  chains.  But,  sir,  as  I  always  say,  our  country 
is  a  great  mixture,  and  some  of  the  changes  do  not  im- 
prove the  stock  either;  though,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  don't 
blame  all  creation  for  coming  here,  for,  if  I  was  not 
here  before,  I  would  come  myself," — growing  animated, — 
"yes,  sir,  if  I  had  been  born  a  foreigner  to  myself,  be- 
fore 1  would  have  lived  with  savages,  alligators,  lions, 
and  tigers,  I  would  have  come  to  this  glorious  land  of 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  29 

civil  and  religious  liberty,  this  land  of  voting  and  churches, 
this  land  of  preaching  and  gold-digging,  where  every  man 
can  sit  under  his  own  fig-tree  and  knock  down  chincapins, 
none  daring  to  make  him  afraid.  Yes,  sir,  I  repeat  it,  I 
would  have  come,  and  at  the  worst  growed  cat-tail  swamps 
for  a  living  !  And  now,  sir,  I  wish  to  know,  if  you  are 
employed  by  us  to  teach  our  children,  if  you  will  teach 
them  any  new-fangled  doctrines  of  the  present  age?" 

"  Certainly  not,  sir,  if  you  do  not  wish  it." 

11 1  can  tell  you,  sir,  we  do  not  wish  it ;  for  my  part,  I 
would  hunt  the  fellow  down  with  dogs  who  would  attempt 
to  poison  the  minds  of  my  children  with  any  of  the  fanati- 
cal, dogmatical,  moonstruck  monstrosities  of  the  present 
steam-puffing,  gas-blowing,  lightning-talking  age.  I  am 
perfectly  satisfied  with  the  world  as  I  found  it,  only  I 
would  take  the  thunder-storms  out  of  harvest-time  and 
put  them  in  the  winter,  when  there  is  no  grain  standing 
out  to  spoil ;  and  I  would  have  the  ice-cutting  in  the  warm 
weather,  when  we  could  not  get  our  fingers  frost-bitten. 
Gentlemen  of  the  committee,  I  wish  a  few  wrords  of  con- 
versation with  you  in  the  next  room,"  said  the  Chair, 
leading  the  way  with  a  majestic  air. 

The  Chair  returned  in  a  few  moments,  and  informed  Mr. 
Snipe  that  the  committee  had  decided  to  make  him  the 
following  offer  :  "  We  will  employ  you  for  the  next  session 
of  five  months,  for  which  we  will  give  you  twenty-five 
dollars  and  your  board,  if,  on  rainy  days,  you  will  assist 
me  in  looking  over  my  accounts ;  will  teach  Mr.  Hedge's 
white  hound  boy,  Tom,  of  evenings;  and  will  help  Mrs. 
Flax  with  her  poultry." 

"  Speaking  of  the  poultry  reminds  me  of  my  mare," 
said  Mr.  Snipe.     "  Will  you  find  her  in  food  also  ?" 

11  Your  mare  has  not  laid  before  the  committee  yet,"  said 
the  Chair ;  "  but  when  she  does,  we  will  come  and  set." 

3* 


30  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

CHAPTER    VI. 

MATTIE. 

"The  harvest  treasures  all, 
Now  gathered  in  beyond  the  rage  of  storms, 
Sure  to  the  swain  ;  the  circling  fence  shut  up, 
And  instant  winter's  utmost  rage  defied; 
While  loose  to  festive  joy,  the  country  round 
Laughs  with  the  loud  sincerity  of  mirth, 
Shook  to  the  winds  their  cares." 

The  harvest-home  has  been  joyously  celebrated  ;  the 
modest  green  of  matronly  summer  has  deepened  into  the 
gorgeous  tints  of  rich  and  reveling  autumn  ;  the  district 
school  has  been  in  session  some  weeks.  Mr.  Snipe  is  fully 
inaugurated  teacher,  or  rather  a  hearer  of  lessons ;  he  does 
not  even  listen,  for  a  good  listener  is  an  analyzer.  Mr. 
Snipe  does  not  analyze,  comment,  or  demonstrate,  he  only 
hears ;  but  then  he  does  it  so  "  cheap,"  you  know. 

Mrs.  Douglas,  with  feeble  and  tottering  step,  presents 
herself  at  the  school,  leading  by  the  hand  the  timid  and 
reluctant  Mattie,  who  already  feels  that  she  has  entered 
a  howling  wilderness.  The  little  preliminary  business 
necessary  for  the  admission  of  the  new  pupil  is  soon 
transacted,  and  the  mother  retires,  leaving  her  sad  child 
alone  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd. 

"  How  poor  her  clothes  are  !"  whisper  the  girls.  "  JIow 
ugly  she  is  !"  whisper  the  boys.  "  "Who  is  she,  anyhow  ?" 
ask  both  boj's  and  girls.  No  one  knows;  yes,  one  does: 
11  She  lives  in  the  old  field-house"  (as  their  place  is  con- 
temptuously called).  After  this  announcement,  boys  and 
girls  sheer  off  to  a  greater  distance  ;    no  one  wishes  to 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  31 

associnte  with  the  people  who  live  in  the  old  field-house ; 
their  best  repute  is  poverty  and  dissipation.  Mattie  is 
more  alone  than  ever. 

When  the  noon  recess  arrived,  with  her  little  basket  of 
lunch,  consisting  of  a  boiled  egg  and  a  slice  of  bread, 
Mattie  retired  to  the  shade  of  an  adjacent  tree,  whose  wide- 
spread arms  of  umbrageous  foliage  invited  to  shelter  and 
repose. 

When  the  simple  repast  was  finished,  she  took  from  her 
basket  a  book,  which  she  had  provided  for  the  occasion, 
and,  as  usual  when  reading,  was  soon  absorbed  in  the 
subject,  and  lost  to  every  unpleasant  reflection  of  her  own. 
So  completely  was  she  engrossed  on  this  occasion  that, 
when  the  bell  rang  for  the  resumption  of  school  duties,  its 
sound  fell  upon  her  ear  unnoticed,  mingled  with  the  sweet 
voices  that  filled  the  richly-laden  air, — the  distant  waterfall, 
the  hamming  of  bees,  the  caroling  of  birds,  the  gentle 
sighing  of  the  breeze.  A  special  messenger  had  to  be 
sent  to  summon  the  loiterer  to  the  ranks.  Mr.  Snipe  had 
been  duly  informed  of  the  manner  in  which  the  new  pupil 
was  employed, — the  children  said, — sitting  all  the  time 
under  the  tree  reading,  never  looking  from  her  book  nor 
noticing  any  one.  He  was  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  the 
South,  especially  in  country  places,  the  education  of  poor 
children  was  much  neglected,  and  he  was  surprised  to  find 
that  Mattie  could  read  at  all,  and  quite  incredulous  as  to 
her  ability  to  become  absorbed  in  a  subject  however  trifling; 
he  therefore  considered  the  little  affair  a  simple  flourish  of 
affectation ;  the  child,  a  would-be  impostor,  a  mere  make- 
believe,  like  himself.  Mr.  Snipe  had  but  one  element  of 
strength  in  his  character,  and  that  element  was  cunning. 
Here  we  might  spend  time,  a  long  time,  upon  a  lengthy 
analvzation  of  minds  of  a  certain  constitution,  minds  whose 
caliber  the  aforementioned  word,  with  its  concomitants  of 


32  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

hatred  and  revenge,  will  describe,  and  then  not  do  justice 
to  either  the  minds  or  the  descriptive  word.  Many  persons 
have  made  fortunes,  and  their  only  stock  in  trade  was  that 
one  word.  I  know  an  author,  by  courtesy  so  called,  who 
has  made  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  whose  whole 
mental  resource  was  that  one  word.  It  is  a  great  word ; 
no  lexicographer  has  done  justice  to  it.  Cunning,  I  take 
off  my  hat  to  you  !  Mr.  Snipe  had  cunning;  how  I  envy 
you  your  possession,  Mr.  Snipe  ! 

When  Mattie  entered  the  school-room  in  answer  to  the 
special  summons,  the  teacher,  with  satire  in  voice  and 
manner,  remarked,  "Well,  Miss  Douglas,  since  you  are 
such  a  bookworm  as  to  be  buried  alive  in  one,  will  you 
favor  us  with  a  specimen  of  your  style  of  reading  F" 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  child,  ingenuously. 

He  presented  a  school- reader,  and  designating  an  extract 
from  a  poem,  commanded  her  to  stand  up  and  read.  Mattie 
had  never  in  her  life  read  in  the  presence  of  any  one  ex- 
cept her  father  and  mother  ;  this  public  reading,  then,  was 
a  severe  ordeal  for  the  first  day  at  school ;  but  she  instantly 
obeyed.  The  eyes  of  all  present  were  now  fixed  upon  the 
little,  ugly,  ill  clad  girl  of  the  old  field-house,  and  silence 
for  once  in  that  Pandemonium  "reigned  supreme."  The 
poem  was  new  to  the  reader,  but  her  fine  appreciative 
powers  soon  caught  the  sentiment,  and  her  soul  read  while 
her  lips  pronounced  the  words.  As  she  proceeded,  the 
sih-nce  grew  more  intense,  even  Mr.  Snipe's  countenance 
relaxed  in  some  measure  from  its  sinister  expression,  when, 
unfortunately,  she  encountered  a  word  with  which  she  was 
not  familiar.  The  pupil  stopped  abruptly,  and  raising  her 
eves  for  the  first  time  to  the  teacher,  asked  him  for  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  Baying  her  mother  did  not  permit 
her  to  pass  a  word  without  understanding  its  meaning. 

Mr.  Snipe  was  surprised  into  confusion,  and  with  both 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  33 

color  and  choler  replied  that  he  had  no  dictionary  at  hand. 
The  child  observed  his  too  palpable  embarrassment,  and 
quickly  added  with  the  most  perfect  innocence,  "  Oh,  never 
mind,  sir,  I  will  take  it  to  my  mother."  And  drawing  from 
her  pocket  a  pencil,  proceeded  to  write  down  the  word. 

11  You  may  take  your  seat,"  said  the  offended  pedagogue  ; 
11  that  will  do  for  to-day." 

"When  Mattie  returned  home  in  the  evening,  she  re- 
counted to  her  mother  the  incidents  of  the  day,  and  espe- 
cially that  of  the  reading-lesson,  with  its  abrupt  termina- 
tion,— dwelling  enthusiastically  upon  the  beauties  of  the 
poem,  and  regretting  the  interruption  which  the  unknown 
word  had  occasioned.  Mrs.  Douglas  was  much  surprised 
at  what  she  heard,  but  was  careful  not  to  evince  her  aston- 
ishment in  a  manner  that  w^ould  compromise  the  dignity 
of  the  teacher.  Calling  for  the  unlucky  word,  the  mother- 
teacher  went  on  with  the  explanation,  giving  the  root  and 
prefix,  the  meaning  of  each  when  disconnected,  then  the 
various  applications  of  which  the  compound  word  was 
capable,  and  its  synonyms. 


34  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MALICE. 

"He  hath  tied 
Sharp-tooth'd  unkindness  like  a  vulture  here." 

From  the  era  of  the  reading-lesson,  and  which,  indeed, 
was  Mattie's  first  day  at  school,  Mi*.  Snipe  conceived  a 
perfect  detestation  of  the  child  that  had  so  unintentionally 
exposed  his  ignorance  to  the  school.  Every  pupil  in  the 
room  had  observed  the  perplexity  of  the  teacher;  none, 
however,  realized  the  unpleasantness  of  the  situation  so 
sensibly  as  himself.  The  little  affair,  trifling  in  itself,  was 
soon  forgotten  by  all  except  Mr.  Snipe  ;  silently,  maliciously, 
he  remembered  the  incidental  demolition  of  his  assumed 
dignity,  and  he  determined  to  avenge  his  wounded  honor. 
The  unconscious  offender  was  helpless  and  unprotected, — 
her  father,  a  reckless  inebriate;  her  mother,  a  heart-broken 
invalid.  He  determined  to  crush  her  out  of  the  school ; 
and  he  determined  knowingly  enough,  for  he  was  never 
safe  a  moment  while  she  was  there.  At  every  step  in  her 
studies,  simple  as  they  were,  some  elucidative  question, 
indicative  of  latent  genius,  would  suggest  itself  to  her  rich 
and  rapidly  developing  intellect.  She  naturally  applied  to 
her  teacher  for  a  solution,  but  to  him  such  thoughts  were 
monsters  that  never  could  have  found  room  to  be  born  in 
the  little  and  anphilosophical  skull  of  the  ever  so  cunning 
peddler  and  poultry  practitioner. 

As  Mr.  Snipe  determined,  if  possible,  to  banish  Mattie 
from  school,  so  in  furtherance  of  his  design  he  permitted 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  35 

no  opportunity  to  pass  unimproved  in  which  he  could 
wound  and  harass  the  helpless  child,  whose  feelings  he 
perceived  were  eminently  sensitive  and  high-strung.  If 
she  arose  to  approach  his  desk,  a  thundering,  "  Keep 
your  seat,  Miss  Malapert  ln  sent  the  little  unfortunate 
crouching  back  trembling  in  every  limb.  Her  school  com- 
panions quickly  perceived  that  she  was  no  favorite  in  high 
quarters,  and  a  few  taking  advantage  of  her  prostrate  con- 
dition, heaped  upon  her  an  accumulation  of  insolence  and 
oppression  too  intolerable  to  be  borne.  Others,  however, 
for  the  credit  of  humanity,  be  it  spoken,  were  pained  at 
her  distress,  and  forgot  in  sympathy  for  her  suffering  that 
she  did  live  in  the  old  field-house,  and  was  poor  and  plain 
and  unprotected. 

Mrs.  Douglas  observed,  with  much  though  silent  con- 
cern, that  Mattie  returned  from  school  more  and  more 
depressed  and  spiritless  on  each  succeeding  day ;  but  as 
the  child  made  no  complaint,  the  mother  prudently  for- 
bore to  solicit  any,  and  hoped  that  time  would  reconcile 
the  novice  to  school  restraint  and  restore  her  wonted  cheer- 
fulness. That  mother  little  suspected  what  a  flood  of 
agony  was  pent  up  in  that  young  heart,  and  how  for  her 
sake — for  dear  mother's  sake — it  was,  and  had  been  long, 
suppressed.     But  a  climax  was  approaching. 

On  this  particular  evening  Mattie  came  home  with  a 
face  so  inflamed  and  swollen  by  protracted  weeping  that 
the  sight  of  her  pitiable  condition  must  have  moved  the 
sympathy  of  even  an  uninterested  beholder;  how,  then, 
were  the  feelings  of  her  tender  and  heart-crushed  mother 
wrung  with  keenest  anguish  ! 

"Mattie,"  said  the  mother,  with  trembling  voice  and 
blanched  lip,  "  what  is  the  trouble  ?  You  have  been 
weeping  bitterly.     I  must  know  the  cause." 

"Oh,  mother!"    exclaimed  the  child,   bursting  into  a 


36  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

fresh  agony  of  tears,  "I  do  so  wish  my  father  was  '  a  com- 
mittee P  then  Mr.  Snipe  would  not  hate  me  as  he  does.  I 
cannot  tell  why,  but  I  know  he  does  not  like  me,  and  I 
have  tried  to  please  him,  but  he  spurns  me  from  him  like 
I  was  a  dog ;  and  to-day  he  said  I  was  equal  to  four  dogs. 
Oh,  I  am  so  miserable!  I  am  so  miserable  !"  And  the  child's 
whole  being  writhed  and  surged  with  intensest  agony. 

As  intimated  before,  Mrs.  Douglas  knew  nothing  of  the 
indignities  of  which  her  daughter  had  been  persistently 
made  the  recipient ;  but  the  present  burst  of  feeling,  and 
the  unmistakable  evidence  of  suffering  which  accompanied 
it,  forced  upon  her  mind  the  conviction  that  a  wrong  had 
been  perpetrated.  It  required  no  Solomon  to  discern 
the  fact  that  a  feud  existed  between  teacher  and  pupil, 
and  Mrs.  Douglas  knew  the  character  of  the  latter  too 
well  not  to  feel  assured  that  she  was  not  the  aggressor. 
Mute  with  painful  apprehension,  with  a  stifling  realization 
of  her  helplessness  and  inability  to  redress  the  wrongs  of 
her  friendless  and  unprotected  offspring,  the  mother  made 
no  further  inquiry,  but,  drawing  the  weeping  girl  upon  her 
lap,  pressed  her  to  her  own  sympathizing  bosom,  and 
mingled  her  tears  with  those  of  the  sorrowing  child,  while 
her  lacerated  heart  cried  out  with  one  of  old,  "Those  hold 
me  and  mine  in  derision  whom  my  fathers  would  not  have 
set  with  their  dogs.  Oh,  my  husband,  my  husband ! 
what  hast  thou  done  ?" 

Among  the  pupils  that  frequented  Mr.  Snipe's  school 
was  a  granddaughter  of  Mr.  Flam,  whom  we  remember 
as  President  of  the  School  Board,  and  Chairman  of  the 
Examining  Committee.  This  child  was  an  orphan  daughter 
of  Mr.  Flam's  deceased  son,  an  only  child  of  an  only  child, 
consequently  heir  of  her  grandfather's  immense  property. 
But,  alas  !  she  was  deformed  in  person,  and  scarcely  bet- 
ter in  mind.     Deformed  in  person,  weak  in  intellect,  and 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  37 

ill  in  health,  —  partly  in  consideration  of  these  misfor- 
tunes and  of  the  fact  that  she  was  heiress  of  large  estates, 
she  was  indulged  in  a  manner  that  brought  out  in  bold 
relief  all  the  native  tyranny  of  her  character, — all  that 
domination  of  an  idiotic  will  that  had  never  been  contra- 
dicted in  any  of  its  most  absurd  caprices.  She  went  to 
the  district  school  because  she  would  go.  Her  grandfather 
wished  her  to  be  taught  at  home,  to  have  a  governess, 
and  maintain  all  the  exclusiveness  to  which  her  wealth 
and  position  entitled  her.  She  defiantly  told  him  she 
would  not  be  taught  at  home,  shut  up  in  the  lonesome 
house  all  the  time ;  she  would  go  to  school  and  play  with 
the  children  ;  and,  she  might  have  added,  fight  with  them, 
too! 

Mr.  Snipe,  with  native  astuteness,  quickly  perceived  it 
would  be  to  his  advantage  to  propitiate  this  child,  and  he 
spared  no  pains  to  accomplish  his  purpose :  she  was 
never  displaced  from  her  position  at  the  head  of  the  class, 
whether  she  recited  her  lesson  or  not ;  in  short,  she  was 
exempted  from  all  the  rules  that  governed  the  rest  of  the 
school. 

It  was  the  custom  in  this,  as  in  many  other  country 
schools,  for  the  boys  to  alternate  in  furnishing  the  pupils 
with  water,  by  carrying  it  round  the  room  once  a  ses- 
sion, when  those  who  wished  to  drink  did  so,  one  after 
the  other,  and  all  from  the  same  cup.  Among  the  privi- 
leges which  Miss  Flum  enjoyed  was  that  of  always  drink- 
ing first, — the  children  said,  because  her  grandfather  was 
a  "  committee."  One  spirited  boy  declared,  "  when  it  came 
to  his  turn  to  give  out  water,  he  would  not  wait  on 
Mary  Flum  first,  if  her  grandfather  was  a  committee  :  be 
would  begin  at  the  beginning,  and  leave  off  at  the  end." 
lie  put  his  threat  of  daring  into  execution,  and  the  conse- 
quence was  most  disastrous  to  poor  Mattie.     Being  seated 

4 


38  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

next  the  door  (it  was  the  most  uncomfortable  seat  in  the 
room),  she,  of  course,  received  the  water  first;  whereupon 
Miss  Flum  bridled  up,  and,  resenting  the  insult  offered  to 
her  in  the  curtailment  of  privileges,  declared,  "she  would 
not  drink  after  such  poor  trash  as  Mat  Douglas.  Mat 
Douglas  was  no  better  than  her  grandfather's  niggers  ;  and 
she  would  ask  her  grandpa  if  she  was  to  receive  such 
treatment." 

At  the  mention  of  her  grandpa,  Mr.  Snipe's  little  baboon 
forehead  became  copiously  bedewed  with  cold  and  clammy 
perspiration.  With  excessive  bitterness  he  asked  Mattie 
how  she  bad  the  assurance  to  drink  before  her  betters. 
Did  she  suppose,  he  said,  that  a  lady  like  Miss  Flum  would 
drink  after  such  people  as  she  belonged  to  ?  "  Now  go," 
he  continued,  in  a  loud  key,  and  stamping  his  foot,  "  take 
that  cup  to  the  spring,  wash  it,  and  bring  Miss  Flum  a 
clean  drink." 

Mattie  attempted  to  obey ;  but  she  felt  as  if  her  heart 
had  suddenly  grown  to  be  the  size  of  the  water-bucket  and 
had  then  stood  still.  It  seemed  to  fill  her  chest,  to  close 
her  throat,  to  press  upon  her  lungs  like  a  huge  incubus, 
and  suppress  her  very  breathing.  She  attempted  to  rise  ; 
her  head  swam,  her  limbs  refused  obedience  to  her  will, 
and  she  sank  back  upon  her  seat  almost  a  corpse.  Happily, 
a  flood  of  tears  came  to  her  relief;  and  then,  her  sobs  and 
piteous  moans  annoying  Mr.  Snipe,  he  commanded  her  to 
go  out  into  the  yard  and  howl  there  with  her  four-dog 
power,  and  not  disturb  the  peaceable  inmates  of  the  school. 

And  thus  the  child  came  by  the  swollen  eyes,  the  in- 
flamed cheeks;  thus  the  sobs  and  convulsive  heavings  of 
the  breast,  the  sight  of  which  so  pained  her  tender  mother. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  39 


CHAPTER    YIIT. 


TROUBLE. 


"I  may  not  weep — I  cannot  sigh, 

A  weight  is  pressing  on  my  breast; 
A  breath  breathes  on  me  witheringly, 
My  tears  are  dry,  my  sighs  suppressed." 

Mrs.  Douglas  passed  a  sleepless  night;  she  debated 
much  with  herself  as  to  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued 
under  circumstances  of  such  new  perplexity.  Mattie's 
sun,  like  her  own,  appeared  everywhere  under  a  cloud. 
She  did  not  wish  it  thus  to  set  at  school,  or,  in  other  words, 
she  did  not  wish  the  child  to  leave  school  until  the  preju- 
dice which  evidently  existed  against  her  in  the  mind  of 
the  teacher  should  be  removed.  Besides,  Mattie  must  be 
educated.  She  was  not  able  to  send  her  abroad  for  that 
purpose,  and  Mr.  Snipe's  school  comprised  all  the  educa- 
tional facilities  which  the  neighborhood  afforded.  How 
small  those  were  Mrs.  Douglas  never  for  a  moment  sus- 
pected. "  Back  to  school,  then,  Mattie  must  go,  must  over- 
come adverse  circumstances  by  persevering  endeavor, 
must  conquer  by  the  omnipotence  of  will."  And  thus 
man  reasons  and  appoints ;  but  alas  for  human  foresight  I 

In  consequence  of  her  vigils,  Mrs.  Douglas  was  ex- 
tremely feeble  in  the  morning,  and  unable  to  leave  her 
couch  until  she  had  received  some  nourishment.  This 
Mattie  hastened  to  prepare,  and  also  to  attend  to  other 
household  duties  which  required  immediate  care.  All 
being  completed,  her  mother  told  her  to  prepare  for  school, 
as  she  had  decided  upon  her  return  thither,  although  her 


40  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

position  there  was  an  unpleasant  one.  "  You  know,  my 
love,"  said  the  mother,  "  that  besides  a  preparation  for 
another  world  I  can  have  no  greater  object  in  this  than 
the  advancement  of  your  interest :  therefore  you  must 
consent  to  be  guided  by  my  riper  judgment.  I  wish  you 
to  acquire  such  an  education  as  shall  enable  you  to  occupy 
with  ability  the  situation  of  teacher.  Then  you  can  secure 
to  yourself  an  honorable  maintenance,  and  the  position,  if 
properly  filled,  will  entitle  you  to  respect,  and  in  some 
measure  shield  you  from  the  ruder  blasts  to  which  a  life 
of  meaner  labor  must  expose  you." 

Here  the  countenance  of  Mrs.  Douglas  evinced  the  fact 
that  a  more  painful  thought  struggled  for  utterance,  that 
something  pressed  upon  her  mind  which  she  dreaded,  but 
desired,  to  express.  Summoning  resolution,  she  proceeded  : 
"You  will  have  to  labor  not  only  for  your  own  support,  but 
for  that  of  your  most  unfortunate  father.  Upon  you  will 
devolve  the  exclusive  care  of  him  in  his  old  days.  It  is 
you  that  will  have  to  stay  his  feeble  steps  and  smooth  his 
lonely  passage  to  the  tomb.  I  shall  be  gone,  and  only 
you  left  to  care  for  him,  whom  of  all  beings  upon  the  earth 
I  have  cared  for  most.  And  oh,  my  poor  child,  if  de- 
parted spirits  are  ever  permitted  to  revisit  this  weary 
earth,  be  assured  your  mother's  will  linger  near  you  to 
nerve  your  feeble  arm  and  stay  your  sinking  heart,  for 
well  I  know  the  mighty  conflicts  that  must  await  you. 
Then  go,  my  love  ;  go,  for  my  sake,  ami  achieve  the  greatest 
of  all  victories — the  conquest  of  yourself.  Merge  present 
pleasure  in  the  struggle  for  future  good,  and  in  years  to 
come  you  will  exult  in  the  reflection  that  you  did  not  per- 
mit yourself  to  be  overcome  of  evil,  but  vanquished  evil 
and  its  effects  by  yielding  to  the  dictates  of  reason  and  to 
the  promptings  of  the  purest  maternal  love." 

Mat  tie   made   no  reply,   but   left   the   presence   of  her 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  41 

mother  to  give  vent  to  her  bursting  heart  and  to  make  a 
hast}' preparation  for  school,  as  it  was  already  late,  and 
she  dreaded  the  censure  of  Mr.  Snipe  worse  than  the 
ravings  of  the  fiercest  storm  that  ever  rocked  their  weather- 
beaten  cabin  ;  ''for  God  is  in  the  storm,"  thought  Mattie, 
"but  there  is  no  God  in  Mr.  Snipe." 

In  a  short  time  the  child  returned  equipped  for  school. 
Her  mother  observed  traces  of  tears  upon  her  cheek  and 
deep  gloom  upon  her  countenance.  She  made  an  effort  to 
cheer  the  sad  and  dejected  pupil.  She  charged  her  with 
a  message  to  the  teacher.  '*  Invite  Mr.  Snipe  to  take  tea 
with  me,  and  request  him  to  appoint  the  evening  when  it 
will  suit  his  convenience  to  come"  (said  the  mother,  hum- 
ble for  the  sake  of  her  child) ;  "  and  place  my  knitting  upon 
the  bed.  I  am  not  able  to  be  about  to-day,  but  I  will  try 
and  sit  up  in  bed  and  finish  the  stockings  I  have  upon  the 
needles,  and  send  them  to  the  store  and  procure  some  tea 
and  white  sugar,  and  you  shall  make  the  nice  biscuit  for 
which  you  are  such  a  famous  little  housewife,  and  we  will 
manage  to  set  Mr.  Snipe  quite  a  comfortable  tea.  Per? 
haps  when  he  knows  more  of  our  history  and  character 
he  will  be  more  kindly  disposed  towards  us ;  at  present, 
of  course,  he  knows  nothing  of  us  but  from  the  vulgar 
gossips  of  the  neighborhood,  for  I  have  lived  apart  from 
all  my  neighbors,  and  made  friends  of  none." 

Innocent  Mrs.  Douglas !  She  judged  others  by  the 
purity  and  magnanimity  of  her  own  heart,  and  little  sup? 
posed  or  suspected  with  what  a  cold  slimy  swollen  frog 
she  was  in  contact.  Napoleon  the  Great,  when  at  the 
summit  of  his  glory,  might  have  accepted  an  invitation 
from  as  humble  a  source ;  certainly  our  own  great  na- 
tion's honored  father  would  ;  but  never  this  poor  country 
pedagogue,  whose  empty  brain  grew  dizzy  at  the  thought 
of  his  immense  elevation.     And,  indeed,  though  the  posi- 

4* 


42  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

tion  entitled  him  to  naught  of  compensation  save  the  lonely 
five  dollars  per  month,  yet  socially  it  was  to  him  an  ele- 
vation, if  not  in  a  pecuniary  sense.  Hitherto,  in  his  pere- 
grinations round  the  country,  it  had  been  his  lot  to  pick 
cold  bones  in  farmers'  kitchens  or  in  his  own  musty  carry- 
all. But  now  he  is  a  guest  in  sumptuous  parlors,  with 
lovely  ladies  of  old  and  noble  stock ;  his  feet  press  soft, 
luxurious  carpets  ;  his  lips  silver  and  the  finest  glass  ; 
liveried  servants  anticipate  his  wish  ;  rich  and  costly 
dainties,  of  which  his  bean-and-pumpkin  soul  never 
dreamed,  pile  his  plate,  for  he  dines  to-day  with  the  full 
and  empty  Mr.  Flum. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

MORE    TROUBLE. 

"  Thou  art  come  to  answer 
A  stormy  adversary,  an  inhuman  wretch, 
Incapable  of  pity,  void  and  empty 
From  every  drachm  of  mercy." 

WHENMattie  reached  school,  she  found  her  fears  in  some 
measure  realized ;  the  assembling  bell  had  been  rung,  and 
her  class  was  then  upon  the  floor,  forming  for  recitation. 
She  approached  Mr.  Snipe  with  an  apology  for  being  rather 
late;  he  waved  her  away  with  scornful  impatience,  and 
commanded  her  to  take  a  position  at  the  foot  of  the  class. 

The  command  was  contrary  to  every  precedent  fur- 
nished by  the  school,  and  manifestly  unjust,  because,  as  the 
class  was  not  formed  when  she  entered,  she  was  of  course 
entitled  to  her  position  in  it.     Mattie  promptly  obeyed, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  43 

though  she  felt  the  injustice.  She  had,  by  hard  labor,  and 
against  every  obstacle  thrown  in  her  way,  steadily  main- 
tained her  position  at  the  head;  she  valued  her  position, 
and  this  Mr.  Snipe  knew  :  hence  the  inflicted  mortification. 
The  result,  however,  was  not  quite  equal  to  the  wish  of  the 
amiable  man,  as  the  effect  of  his  petty  spleen  upon  the 
child  was  less  painful  than  he  had  hoped  and  expected  to 
produce.  The  same  utter  desolation  of  feeling  did  not 
prostrate  her  as  on  former  occasions  when  the  victim  of 
the  teacher's  tyranny.  She  had  been  running ;  the  morning 
air  was  fresh  and  exhilarating,  the  blood  was  bounding 
rapidly  through  her  veins  and  glowing  upon  her  cheek  ; 
she  felt  less  depressed  and  cowed  than  usual. 

The  foot  of  the  class  rested  upon  an  open  window.  At 
right  angles  with  the  window  stood  a  desk,  upon  which 
was  placed  a  large  stone  inkstand.  Mattie  leaned  her  left 
arm  upon  the  window-sill,  while  her  right  arm  extending 
forward  reached  the  desk,  and  her  hand  unconsciously  lay 
upon  the  inkstand.  In  this  position  she  rested,  waiting 
for  her  turn  to  recite.  The  lesson,  as  usual,  was  tedious, 
and  dragged  its  slow  length  along  tediously  enough,  with 
no  tact  or  ability  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  make  it  in- 
teresting,— though,  sooth  to  say,  he  heard  with  all  his 
might.  The  weather  was  lovely,  one  of  those  luxurious 
autumn  days  of  hale  old  Maryland,  in  which  balmy  air, 
mellow  sunshine,  and  richly-tinted  clouds  seem  to  pre- 
sent rival  contracts  for  making  Indian  summer  the  grand- 
est and  most  beautiful  season  of  the  year, 

Mattie  had  a  ready  eye  for  the  beauties  of  nature,  and 
was,  withal,  something  of  a  day-dreamer.  As  she  stood  by 
that  open  casement  and  gazed  out  upon  the  fair  broad  land- 
sc:  p?  and  lovely  sky,  her  thoughts  became  gradually  de- 
tached from  lessons,  school,  teacher,  and  all  that  annoyed, 
roaming   at  will  amid   fairy  haunts  of  beautiful   imagin- 


44  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

ings.  She  wondered  where  those  lovely  clouds  went  to 
rest  when  weary  with  wandering  near  the  dull  earth  (for  to 
poor  Mattie  the  earth  was  very  dull),  and  she  thought  if 
she  were  only  at  liberty  like  them  to  float  away  and  choose 
her  resting-place,  how  soon  she  would  glide  from  all  that 
troubled  her,  and  be  at  peace  in  the  far-off  expanse,  where 
the  pure  light  seemed  to  repose,  and  from  which  the  holy 
stars,  modest  and  shy  as  nuns,  peep  out  from  their  case- 
ments when  all  is  still  around.  But  that  sweet  romancing 
was  interrupted  by  the  counteracting  thought,  "  What 
would  become  of  poor  sick  mother  ?  No  one  to  comfort 
her  or  prepare  her  nourishment  if  she  were  away.  Oh,  no, 
no !  She  would  not  be  a  cloud,  or  visit  the  stars  unless 
mother  could  go  with  her."  At  this  stage  of  Mattie's 
musings  a  body  of  vapor  peculiar  in  form  floated  overhead ; 
it  seemed  to  her  childish  imagination  to  resemble  a  human 
figure,  the  upper  part  clearly  defined,  the  lower  draped  in 
obscurity.  The  child  gazed  upon  the  strange  configuration 
spell-bound,  eyes  expanded,  nostrils  dilated  ;  the  vapor 
figure  seemed  to  return  her  gaze  with  intelligent  recogni- 
tion ;  it  seemed  every  moment  more  and  more  to  resemble 
her  mother,  and,  as  it  receded  from  sight,  spread  forth  its 
arms,  beckoning  her  away  to  join  the  aerial  flight;  and  the 
rapt  little  dreamer  was  in  the  act  of  stretching  forth  her 
hands,  responsive  to  the  summons,  when  a  nudge  in  the 
side  from  a  classmate,  and  the  shrill  voice  of  Mr.  Snipe, 
aroused  her  from  her  reverie. 

"  Are  you  dead  ?"  he  shrieked,  in  a  voice  husky  with  im- 
patient rage. 

11  No,  sir,"  replied  the  startled  child,  flurried,  and  un- 
conscious of  a  pun,  "but  I  was  buried  in  the  clouds." 

Some  of  the  larger  children  tittered.  Mr.  Snipe  felt  a 
little  quizzed. 

u  Oh,  dear  1"  said   he,  with  a  sardonic  grin  that  mado 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  45 

Mattie'a  heart  flutter  like  a  bird's  wing,  <:  how  very  witty  1 
Not  dead,  but  buried  1 — and  buried  in  the  clouds!  What 
affinity  have  you  with  the  clouds,  I  should  like  to  know?" 

"I  mean,  sir,"  said  the  child,  frightened  into  a  confes- 
sion of  her  thoughts,  "that  I  was  buried  in  thought  about 
the  clouds,  one  somehow  so  reminded  me  of  my  sweet 
mother,  as  it  melted  into  the  upper  sky." 

Mr.  Snipe  interrupted,  with  horrid  malice,  "Why  don't 
you  say  reeled  in  the  upper  sky,  and  then  it  might  remind 
you  of  sweet  staggering  father  too  ?" 

The  little  boys  laughed,  and  Mary  Flum  laughed;  but 
the  larger  children  looked  hard  at  Mr.  Snipe,  and  did  not 
laugh. 

This  red-hot  bolt,  hurled  with  the  fury  of  a  demon,  con- 
founded but  did  not  crush  its  intended  victim,  as  the 
assassin  at  heart  hoped  and  intended  it  should.  Mattie 
had  been  taught  to  consider  her  father  as  an  unfortunate, 
to  pity,  but  to  blame  him  not.  Mrs.  Douglas  abhorred  the 
thought  that  child  of  hers  should  scorn  the  author  of  its 
being,  and  she  sedulously  endeavored  to  remove  from  Mat- 
tie's  mind  all  unkind  reflections  upon  her  father,  and  to 
implant  pity, — not  contemptuous  pity,  but  loving,  saving 
pity  ;  sublime  regret, — such  as  the  beholder  might  feel  for 
some  noble  palace  all  in  ruins,  some  grand  old  castle  in 
which  the  demon-ghost  had  displaced  the  legal  inhabitants, 
and  now  riots  in  undisturbed  possession,  with  the  owls 
and  the  bats  ;  some  majestic  tree,  that  promised,  in  coming 
years,  to  be  the  "storms'  defiance  and  the  flocks'  defense, 
now  scathed  and  blighted  by  the  lightning's  untimely 
stroke."  "And  you,"  said  the  mother,  "  must  be  the  loving 
spirit,  that,  like  a  gracious  vine,  entwines  with  caressing 
tendrils  its  shattered  trunk,  and  covers  with  sheltering 
foliage,  ever  green  and  fresh,  its  riven  heart." 

Mattie's  father,  to  her  poetic  imagination,  was  a  sacred 


46  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

trust  committed  to  her  keeping ;  and  this  unprovoked  as- 
sault, this  brutal  allusion  to  his  misfortune,  touched  a 
harsh  chord  in  her  nature,  and  caused  it  to  give  forth  its 
first  discordant  sound.  She  felt  as  if  a  scorpion  had  stung 
her  heart,  and,  with  resenting  heat,  she  wished  to  crush 
the  reptile.  The  roused  blood  of  the  kilted  Douglases 
rushed  through  her  heart,  her  head,  her  hand, — through 
that  hand  under  which  lay  so  temptingly  the  huge  stone 
inkstand,  and  the  next  instant  it  was  flying  through  the 
air,  in  a  direct  line  for  Mr.  Snipe's  head.  Fortunately, 
it  struck  the  wall,  and  not  him  ;  but  his  snowy  shirt-bosom, 
buff  vest,  dove-colored  coat,  and  immaculate  pantaloons, 
all  objects  of  tender  regard  to  Mr.  Snipe,  and  of  much 
solicitude  to  Mrs.  Flax,  bore  the  marks  of  its  murky  con- 
tents. The  moment  the  inkstand  left  Mattie's  hand,  minus 
bonnet  and  books,  she  bounded  like  an  antelope  from  the 
room. 

"  Catch  her  1  Catch  her  I"  shouted  Mr.  Snipe.  The 
little  boys  and  Mary  Flum,  eager  for  the  fun,  were  instantly 
in  hot  pursuit ;  the  larger  boys  kept  their  seats, — all  ex- 
cept one. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  47 


CHAPTER    X. 

BILL     BOTHER  MENOT. 

"  His  was  the  gifted  eye  which  grace  still  touched 
As  if  with  second  nature;  and  his  dreams, 
His  childish  dreams,  were  lit  by  hues  of  heaven, 
Those  which  make  genius." 

A  boy  seated  at  the  lower  end  of  the  school-room  arose, 
and,  taking  his  hat,  quickly  followed  those  who  had  fol- 
lowed Mattie.  Mr.  Snipe  and  the  pupils  that  remained 
with  him  were  equally  surprised  at  the  movement,  for  this 
was  quite  a  remarkable  boy.  Taciturn,  and  seemingly  un- 
conscious of  passing  events,  he  appeared  to  take  no  interest 
whatever  in  the  affairs  of  others.  He  was  always  draw- 
ing;  Mr.  Snipe  never  proffered  him  any  assistance  or 
direction ;  he  never  solicited  any,  but  quietly  drew  on.  He 
was  brave,  too,  in  his  artistic  undertakings,  for  he  attempted 
to  copy  everything  that  came  within  the  range  of  his 
vision.  He  would  mount  the  highest  hill  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  coming  sun ;  he  would  linger  at  even- 
ing till  the  last  tinge  of  his  departing  glory  had  faded 
from  the  western  sky,  and  arrest  upon  his  paper  mirror 
the  faintest  shadow  of  its  fleeting  hue.  He  would  attempt, 
in  the  wildest  storm,  to  convey  to  his  uncouth  sheet  some 
expression  of  its  terrific  grandeur.  He  drew  the  bird  on 
bough  and  on  wing,  the  bee  in  field  and  on  flower ;  he 
drew  the  leaf,  the  landscape,  the  school,  the  scholars,  and 
oh,  reader,  I  wish  I  could  show  you  how  he  drew  Mr. 
Snipe.  This  boy,  so  strangely  absorbed,  did  not  like  to 
be  interrupted  when  engaged  at  the  work  he  loved,  and 


48  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

when  the  other  boys  came  peering  round  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  his  queer  doings,  he  invariably  dismissed  them  with  the 
exclamation,  "  Don't  bother  me  !"  hence  he  received  the 
sobriquet  of  Bill  Bothermenot. 

When  Mattie  left  the  school  thus  precipitately,  as  de- 
scribed, and  found  herself  pursued,  she  quitted  the  lane 
which  led  to  the  main  road,  and  struck  across  the  field  in 
a  direct  line,  as  she  thought,  for  home.  When  Bill  got 
into  the  lane  he  found  the  hounds  in  rapid  chase,  and,  in- 
tending to  intercept  and  head  them  off,  he  too  struck 
across  the  field,  thus  inadvertently  tracing  Mattie's  steps. 
He  and  she  caught  sight  of  each  other  at  the  same  moment, 
and  he  saw  that  Mattie,  in  her  bewilderment,  was  going 
in  a  direction  entirely  wrong,  away  from  her  home  instead 
of  to  it,  and  that  she  would  either  be  lost  in  the  forest,  or 
drowned  in  a  stream  which  wound  its  meandering  circuit 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  The  thoughtful  boy  instantly 
changed  his  purpose,  and,  instead  of  attending  to  the 
yelping  pack  in  the  lane,  he  followed  the  fugitive  for  the 
purpose  of  overtaking  her  and  changing  her  route. 

The  frightened  girl  saw  him  in  pursuit,  and  of  course 
considered  him  an  emissary  of  Mr.  Snipe.  Then,  to  dis- 
tance him,  she  quickened  her  speed  to  the  utmost;  hair 
flying  in  all  directions,  first  one  shoe  off,  and  then  the 
other.  Bill  was  by  far  the  fleeter  of  the  two,  and  gained 
upon  her  at  every  step,  lie  shouted  to  her  to  "  stop;  he 
would  protect  her;  she  need  not  fear  him;1'  but  Mattie 
understood  not  his  words;  she  only  heard  his  voice,  and 
strained  her  speed  until  the  blood  gushed  from  her  nostrils. 
The  roar  of  the  niilldam  was  frightfully  near,  the  click  of 
the  mill  admonitory  of  danger:  she  heard  not,  eared  not; 
she  dreaded  nothing  but  Mr.  Snipe.  A  quick  turn  in  the 
copse  she  had  entered,  brought  her  in  full  view  and  close 
to  the  stream,  turbid  and  swollen  by  recent  rain  ;  and  now 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  49 

comes  that  one  great  moment  in  a  life  which  decides  for- 
ever the  character  of  an  individual;  "sink  or  swim,  sur- 
vive or  perish,"  must  be  the  motto  of  those  whom  God 
has  elevated  above  the  rest.  And  so  the  helpless  child 
stood  for  a  moment  at  bay,  the  water  in  front,  her  pur- 
suer close  behind.  The  decayed  limb  of  a  tree  had  been 
brought  down  by  the  freshet,  and,  having  caught  on  either 
side,  lay  across  the  stream,  presenting  the  deceitful  ap- 
pearance of  a  temporary  bridge. 

11 1  will  risk  it,  rather  than  be  taken  back  to  Mr.  Snipe," 
she  resolved,  and  gained,  by  a  single  bound,  the  middle  of 
the  fragile  stick.  It  crashed  beneath  her  feet  like  broken 
glass,  and  in  the  next  instant  she  was  floundering  in  the 
deep  and  rapid  waters,  borne  on  to  the  milldam,  to  the 
millrace,  to  the  great  wheel,  to  the  great  ocean  of  eternity, 
but  for  this  blundering  Bill  Bothermenot,  who,  with  in- 
credible celerity,  doffed  jacket  and  boots,  and,  plunging 
into  the  stream,  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  describe  the 
adventure,  saved  the  drowning  girl. 

"  I  would  rather  die  than  be  taken  back  to  Mr.  Snipe," 
she  said,  as  he  seated  her  upon  the  bank. 

"  You  shall  neither  die  nor  be  taken  back  to  Mr.  Snipe," 
said  the  determined  boy,  as  he  wrung  the  water  from  her 
dripping  hair.  "But  why  did  you  not  stop  when  I  called 
you  1  You  feared  me  ;  feared  I  would  take  you  back  to 
Mr.  Snipe  ?  Why,  child,  if  that  worthy  were  here  now  I 
would  pitch  him  into  the  stream,  and  he  might  get  out  as 
best  he  could.  But  come ;  you  arc  wet  and  weary,  and 
must  hasten  home." 

Bill's  jacket,  which  he  had  thrown  upon  the  bank,  being 
the  only  dry  article  he  possessed,  except  his  boots,  he 
bound  around  the  girl's  head,  tying  it  by  the  arms  under 
the  chin,  and,  taking  her  by  the  hand,  led  on  in  the  most 
direct  way  homeward. 

5 


50  DOIXGS  IX  MARYLAND, 

jNoble  boy  !  May  the  chivalric  blood  which  flows  in 
thy  young  veins  yet  bring  thee  honor  and  renown ! 

When  these  odd-looking  travelers,  in  pitiable  plight, — 
Bill  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  with  clothes  dripping  water,  and 
Mattie,  equally  dripping,  with  jacket-bound  head, — arrived 
at  the  old  field-house,  Bill  remarked, — 

"  Had  I  not  better  go  in  with  you  and  explain  matters 
to  your  mother  ?  She  might  be  angry  with  you  for  this 
day's  work,  as  she  does  not  fully  understand  the  case." 

11  My  mother  always  believes  me,  and  she  is  never  angry 
with  any  one,"  replied  Mattie,  unbinding  the  jacket  from 
her  brow. 

"I  suppose  you  will  not  return  to  school  again?"  said 
Bill,  opening  the  gate  to  let  her  pass. 

"  I  rather  think  my  college  days  are  ended,"  said  Mattie, 
with  an  effort  at  a  smile.     And  so  they  were. 

This  transaction  at  school  caused  much  comment  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  persons  said  the  School  Committee 
ought  to  investigate  the  matter,  others  said  Mr.  Snipe 
ought  to  be  dismissed  ;  but  the  wily  creature  had  got  the 
right  side  of  Mary  Flum,  and  she  ruled  her  grandfather; 
besides,  Mrs.  Flax  could  not  spare  the  poultry-doctor,  so 
the  affair,  like  most  of  the  injuries  indicted  upon  the  help- 
less poor,  was  passed  over  and  sooii  forgotten. 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  51 


CHAPTER    XL 

SNOWSTORM. 

"'Tis  easy  to  accuse 
Whom  fortune  hath  made  faulty  by  their  fall; 

They  who  are  vanquished  may  not  refuse 
The  titles  of  reproach  they're  charged  withal." 

The  present  chapter  of  our  story  brings  us  back,  or 
rather  forward,  to  the  winter  when  the  Doug-las  family — 
father,  mother,  and  child — were  first  introduced  to  the 
reader  ;  when  the  ghostly  horse,  the  shivering  cow,  the 
famishing  hen,  composed  the  entire  wealth  and  resources 
of  this  distressed  and  perishing  household.  The  events 
we  have  narrated,  degrading  as  they  were,  transpired 
previous  to  the  time  when  these  unfortunates  had  reached 
the  horrid  climax  of  poverty  and  destitution  sketched  in 
the  first  chapter ;  and  from  this  epoch  our  story  now  pro- 
gresses. 

Mrs.  Douglas  is  by  this  time  so  reduced  in  health  as  to 
be  unable  to  leave  her  couch.  Yesterday  her  cough  was 
unusually  severe;  to-day  her  husband  has  gone  to  the 
store  to  procure  the  ingredients  for  making  the  mixture 
which  relieves  her  most. 

A  country  store,  reader,  is  an  aggregation  of  stores, — 
all  kinds  in  one,  collective  in  character  as  heterogeneous 
in  arrangement.  In  a  well-filled  country  store,  almost 
everything  you  need  may  be  obtained, — a  cent's  worth  of 
salt  or  a  suit  of  broadcloth.  Bacon  and  blue-pills  lie 
quietly  side  by  side  ;  gunpowder  and  lucifer-matches  are 
huddled  together  in  close  proximity;  hats  and  spurs  hang 


52  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

on  ladies'  saddles  ;  drugs  and  dye-stuffs  are  almost  mixed ; 
peppermint  and  prussic  aeid  are  scarcely  distinguishable; 
cards  and  prayer-books  mingled  like  diamonds  and  corrup- 
tion in  a  coffin ;  and  sad  am  I  to  say  that  there,  too,  the 
hydra  alcohol  is  permitted  to  rear  its  horrid  front  and  charm 
its  victim  while  it  takes  his  life.  It  coils  so  cunningly  among 
the  luscious  grapes,  and  wriggles  itself  into  the  heart  of  the 
corn  and  rye.  The  spicy  cordial,  the  fragrant  juniper,  each 
conceals  a  fang,  and  scores  of  unfortunates,  whom  the  neces- 
sities of  life  compel  to  frequent  the  place,  are  caught  en- 
tangled in  its  deadly  folds,  bitten,  and  destroyed  forever. 

Statesmen  and  orators,  with  you  rests  this  great  respon- 
sibility 1 

The  day  is  now  far  spent,  and  Mr.  Douglas  has  not  yet 
returned  from  the  store.  A  violent  storm  is  approaching, 
and  the  cold  is  intense.  The  night  will  be  a  fearful  one. 
Mrs.  Douglas  is  becoming  every  moment  more  and  more 
excited  and  alarmed  ;  paroxysms  of  coughing  follow  each 
other  in  rapid  succession, — each  seems  sufficient  to  expel 
her  life. 

11  Go  again  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  my  child,"  she  requests, 
11  and  see  if  there  is  any  prospect  of  your  father.  Oh,  if  I 
could  but  go  in  search  of  him  !  He  will  perish  this  night 
if  he  stays  out  in  the  storm."  She  tries  to  get  from  the 
bed;  the  effort  brings  on  another  fit  of  coughing,  which 
leaves  her  nearly  breathless. 

Mattie  did  as  directed  by  her  mother;  but  no  glimpse 
of  the  absent  one  blessed  her  strained  vision.  The  snow- 
flakes  descended  thick  and  fast,  the  wind  moaned  omi- 
nously through  the  tops  of  the  trees.  The  child  felt  an  in- 
definable apprehension  and  dread  of  something — she  knew 
not  what.  Sadly  she  returned  to  the  house.  Her  silence 
gave  the  answer  to  her  mother's  eager  and  inquiring  look. 

The  night  has  now  closed  in,  the  storm  has  increased  in 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  53 

violence  ;  Mrs.  Douglas  is  frantic  with  apprehension  ;  the 
hectic  lire  glows  and  burns  upon  her  cheek  and  lights  with 
superhuman  lustre  her  sparkling  e}^es.     Now  her  anxiety 

has  increased  to  frenzy.  "  Mattie,"  she  exclaims,  "you 
must  go  iu  search  of  your  father,  you  must  find  him  and 
bring  him  home,  or  he  will  perish  iu  the  woods  this 
night." 

"  Oh,  mother,"  cried  the  child,  quivering  with  terror, 
44  where  shall  I  go  to  find  him  ?  the  woods  are  so  wide,  the 
storm  is  so  awful,  and  the  night  is  so  dark." 

"  You  must  follow  the  road  that  leads  through  the  woods 
to  the  main  road,"  replied  the  mother;  "  perhaps  you  will 
find  him  by  the  side  of  it,  He  may  have  grown  weary, 
and,  having  sat  down  to  rest,  has  fallen  asleep,"  said  the 
heart- wife,  in  palliation  of  her  husband's  delinquency,  "  and 
you  must  arouse  him  and  bring  him  home." 

11 1  shall  lose  myself  in  the  forest,"  cried  the  child, 
"  and  die  before  morning.  What  then  will  become  of 
you,  mother,  when  father  and  I  are  both  dead  in  the 
woods  ?" 

11 1,  too,  shall  die  this  night,  if  your  father  is  not  found," 
said  the  mother;  "but  stay,  I  shall  go  in  search  of  him 
myself.  I  will  save  him,  or  die  in  the  attempt ;  yes,  I  will 
perish  with  him  !  Stay  me  not,  Mattie,  I  am  content  to 
lay  my  broken  heart  by  the  side  of  his  frozen  corpse." 

"  Do  not  attempt  it,  mother!  do  not,  I  implore  you  !"  ex- 
claimed the  child,  throwing  her  arms  around  her  mother  to 
restrain  her;  "you  cannot  go,  mother,  indeed  you  cannot. 
Trust  to  me,  mother,  I  will  go  in  search  of  my  father,  and 
I  will  save  -him,  or  I,  too,  will  die  in  the  attempt,"  The 
child's  whole  characteristic  strength  of  feeling  was  now 
wrought  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  do-or-die  resolve. 

"  Get  upon  the  horse,  and  take  Carlo  with  you ;  the  in- 
stinct of  those  animals  will  bring  you  home  when  your 

5* 


54  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

own  judgment  might  become  confused  and  lead  you 
astray,"  was  the  direction  of  the  mother. 

The  distressed  child  started  upon  her  almost  hopeless 
search,  mounted  upon  the  wretched  animal  that  was 
scarcely  able  from  hungered  weakness  to  stand  up  in  the 
storm,  but  rocked  and  swayed  from  side  to  side  at  every 
surge  of  the  blast.  Now  the  snow  drove  "  fast  and 
furious,"  the  tempest  roared  and  howled,  the  strained 
limbs  snapped  and  crashed  in  the  crushing  blast;  and  the 
child  braved  all  this  in  the  dark  and  lonefy  forest,  with  no 
companion  save  the  two  dumb  brutes,  with  no  courage 
but  the  strength  inspired  by  filial  love. 

Ye  who,  while  the  piercing  blast  goes  screaming  by  and 
the  savage  tempest  rages  without,  recline  on  soft  luxurious 
couch  or  undulating  sofa,  with  atmosphere  softened  and 
perfumed  to  pamper  the  most  fastidious  sense,  think  of 
this  lone  child  amid  the  lonely  hills  on  such  a  night — on 
such  a  mission. 

Oh,  were  there  no  other  world  than  this,  no  world  to 
set  this  one  right,  then  indeed  might  the  child  of  misfor- 
tune hearken  to  the  Satan-prompted  voice  of  one  of  old, 
who,  under  the  raspings  of  sore  affliction,  in  bitterness  of 
heart,  cried  to  the  companion  of  her  sufferings,  "Curse 
God  and  die  !" 

Mattie  took  the  road  as  directed  by  her  mother  ;  but  the 
violence  of  the  storm  was  such  that  she  was  compelled  to 
lay  her  head  close  to  the  neck  of  the  horse,  which  she 
grasped  with  both  hands  and  anus  to  avoid  being  blown 
from  her  seat.  In  this  position  she  could  scarcely  have 
seen  her  lather  had  she  passed  quite  near  him,  and  the 
drifting  snow  which  lav  in  heaps  across  the  path  might 
have  concealed  his  rigid  form,  and  lie  (crushed  beneath 
the  feet  of  the  animal)  heroine  a  victim  to  the  very  solici- 
tude that  sought  to  save  him. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  55 

Carlo  appeared  to  understand  the  object  of  the  journey 
quite  as  well  as  his  young-  mistress;  perhaps  he  had  seen 
service  of  the  kind  before,  in  company  with  his  older 
mistress;  he  ran  hither  and  thither,  whining  and  snuffing 
at  every  heap  of  snow,  evidently  determined  to  accomplish 
his  object  in  spite  of  the  terrors  of  the  tempest. 

Mattie  had  traveled  on  in  this  manner  for  some  time, 
certainly  in  no  favorable  condition  to  achieve  an  important 
object  or  to  find  the  Franklin  of  her  Arctic  expedition,  when 
by  a  sudden  lulling  of  the  tempest  she  heard  Carlo  bark. 
The  joyful  cry  of  "  Land  !  land  !"  from  the  topmast  of  the 
gallant  Pinta,  sent  no  greater  thrill  of  joy  to  the  weary 
hearts  of  the  great  Columbus'  crew  than  did  that  bark  of 
dog  to  the  sad,  sick  heart  of  the  forlorn  child-wanderer  in 
the  lonely  forest.  And  yet,  why  the  joy  ?  The  dog  may 
have  found  a  wild  animal,  a  rabbit,  or  a  coon.  "  God  of  my 
mother,"  prayed  the  child,  "grant  that  this  may  be  my 
father,  if,  indeed,  he  is  in  the  forest,  lost  and  benumbed  in 
this  terrific  storm."  She  turned  her  horse's  head  in  the 
direction  indicated  by  the  barking  of  the  dog,  and  urged 
the  speed  of  the  sluggish  brute  to  its  utmost.  As  she 
neared  the  spot,  Carlo  came  to  meet  her,  wTagged  his 
tail,  then,  running  back  to  the  snow-rick,  barked  again 
with  all  his  might.  Mattie  sprang  to  the  grouud  and 
commenced  demolishing  the  heap  of  snow  ;  she  scattered 
the  yielding  mass  in  every  direction  ;  she  threw  aside 
armful  after  armful  with  breathless  haste,  until,  notwith- 
standing the  excessive  cold,  the  perspiration  oozed  from 
every  pore  ;  her  heart  was  in  her  work.  She  neared  the 
ground,  something  more  substantial  than  snow  presented 
resistance  to  her  groping  thrust;  after  all,  it  might  be  a 
log;  and  so  it  was, — with  a  human  head  upon  it. 

"  Oh,  my  father  !  my  father  !"  she  shrieked,  in  accents 
that  outshrieked  the  storm.     She  threw  her  arms  about 


5G  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

bis  neck,  kissed  his  cold,  wet  face,  laid  her  glowing  cheek 
to  his,  as  if  to  impart  warmth  and  motion  to  the  chilled 
and  stagnant  blood.  By  every  means  in  her  child-power, 
she  tried  to  arouse  him  to  consciousness;  finding  it  im- 
possible to  do  so,  she  determined  to  return  to  her  mother 
and  obtain  further  directions.  She  drew  from  her  person 
the  tattered  old  cloak  with  which  she  was  enveloped,  and, 
wrapping  it  around  her  father's  head  and  shoulders,  com- 
manded Carlo  to  lie  down  upon  a  corner  of  it.  Talking 
to  the  dog,  the  anxious  and  affectionate  discoverer  com- 
manded him  to  guard  both  the  discovery  and  its  cover; 
and,  in  case  the  torpid  object  should  arouse  in  her  absence, 
she,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  and  shaking  her  finger  at 
the  dog,  directed  him  "to  bring  his  master  straight  home.'r 

Now  the  storm  in  some  measure  abated  its  fury,  seem- 
ingly in  very  pity  to  the  child,  and  the  clouds,  some- 
what broken,  rolled  in  heavy  masses  across  the  heavens, 
permitting  the  moon  occasionally  to  glance  upon  the  earth. 
Let  us  hope  she  never  witnessed  such  a  scene  but  once. 

"I  have  found  him!  I  have  found  him,  mother!"  cried 
the  child,  bounding  into  the  house;  "but  he  is  so  sound 
asleep,  I  cannot  waken  him  ;  what  shall  I  do  now?" 

"If  you  can  keep  him  alive  until  he  has  slept  some 
time,  he  will  be  able  to  walk,"  said  the  mother.  "You 
must  take  all  the  rugs  and  comforts  you  can  find  about  the 
house,  and  wrap  him  in  them,  and  here,  take  this  pillow 
(drawing  one  from  under  her  own  head)  and  place  it  be- 
tween your  father's  head  and  the  cold  ground.  \f  you 
can  keep  up  a  circulation  of  the  blood  until  sleep  has  re- 
stored him  to  consciousness,  all  will  he  well;  and  I  wish 
you  could  carry  with  you  some  warm  bricks  to  place  to  his 
extremities,"  said  the  mother. 

"lie  is  far  down  in  the  forest,"  replied  the  child;  "the 
bricks  would  cool  before  reaching  him  ;  but  I  have  seen. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  57 

the  woodcutter's  fires,  and  I  will  make  one  for  my  father, 
and  I  will  bring  him  home  in  safety,  dear  mother,  so  do 
not  fret,  but  sleep  sweetly  until  we  return."  And  the 
child  playfully  patted  the  shrunken  cheeks  and  kissed  the 
colorless  lips  of  the  attenuated  being  before  her,  in  happy 
ignorance  of  the  fact  that  she  would  never  hear  that  soft, 
sweet  voice  again,  or  look  into  those  love-lit  eyes,  intelli- 
gent with  recognition. 

As  they  had  but  one  principal  room  in  the  house,  it 
served  for  parlor,  kitchen,  and  bedroom  ;  and  Mrs.  Doug- 
las, as  she  lay  there,  watched  with  intense  anxiety  Mattie's 
preparations;  moments  seemed  hours  to  her,  and  she  con- 
stantly exclaimed,  "  Hurry,  my  love,  hurry  away  !  bring 
him  quickly  back;  I  would  see  him  once  more,  0  God  !  I 
would  see  him  once  more  1" 

Mattie  replenished  the  fire,  and  placed  the  tea-kettle 
near,  that  she  might  have  warm  nourishment  to  give  the 
benumbed  night-wanderer  when  he  returned.  Having 
completed  her  arrangements,  she  was  about  to  leave  the 
house,  when  her  mother  raised  herself  upon  her  arm,  and, 
stretching  forth  her  hand  with  the  most  beseeching  ges- 
ture, cried  out,  in  a  gasping,  sobbing  voice,  husky  with 
emotion,  "  Oh,  Mattie,  Mattie,  your  father's  life  is  in  your 
hands  ;  if  you  love  me,  take  care  of  him  !" 

"  I  will,  mother,  I  will,"  said  the  child,  and,  bursting 
into  tears,  she  knew  not  why,  again  rushed  forth  into  the 
savage  night. 


58  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XII. 

DEATII. 

"  Misfortune  does  not  always  wait  on  vice, 
Nor  is  success  the  constant  guest  of  virtue." 

As  the  sobbing  child  upon  the  skeleton  of  a  horse 
floundered  on,  through  the  snow,  back  to  the  place  where 
she  had  left  her  burden,  she  turned  over  in  her  mind  many 
projects  for  the  immediate  rescue  of  the  charge  so  solemnly 
committed  to  her  keeping.  "If  I  could  but  get  some  one 
to  help  me  home  with  him,  how  glad  I  would  be  !  I  kuow 
that  generous  boy,  who  drew  me  from  the  water,  would 
assist  me  if  he  were  here;  but  he  lives  miles  away;  and 
then  our  nearest  neighbor  is  Mi*.  Flax,  and  Mr.  Snipe  lives 
there, — oh,  no,  I  cannot  go  there,  I  would  die  first!"  "  But 
your  father  may  die  likewise,"  whispered  something  in  her 
heart;  "how  will  you  reconcile  that  with  your  pride?" 
"  He  shall  not  die,  he  shall  live !"  she  exclaimed  aloud,  so 
firm  was  her  resolve,  so  strong  her  intent.  Now  she  urged 
anew  the  speed  of  her  jaded  animal,  and,  having  arrived 
at  the  spot,  found  things  much  as  she  had  left  them,  except 
that  Carlo  had  crept  nearer  to  the  object  of  his  guard,  and 
lay  enveloped  in  the  cloak  close  against  his  master's  breast. 

Mattie  made  haste  to  wrap  in  the  covering  she  had 
brought  the  unconscious  form  before  her,  and  to  place  un- 
der his  head  the  pillow  of  which  her  mother  had  deprived 
her  own  aching  brow,  to  add  to  the  comfort  of  one  who 
had  procured  naught  save  thorns  for  her  head  and  daggers 
for  her  heart.  0  woman!  woman!  when  thou  art  true, 
thy  name  is  but  another  name  for  the  Paradise  of  Clod,  for 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  59 

thou  art  all  of  heaven  that  earth  can  show!  Could  that 
pillow  have  given  its  testimony,  what  a  sad  story  would 
it  not  have  told  !  What  charges  would  it  not  have  brought 
against  the  object  it  came  to  solace  and  to  save !  In  the 
still  hours  of  the  lonely  night,  when  none  but  true  hearts 
and  the  holy  stars  keep  watch,  how  often  had  that  pillow 
been  drenched  with  the  bitter  tears  of  despairing  anguish 
wrung  from  eyes  dull  and  weary  by  reason  of  their 
wakeful  sorrow  !  How  many  sleepless  nights  had  been 
passed  upon  its  yielding  but  unsympathizing  bosom;  how 
many  sobs  and  sighs  that  drink  up  the  heart  like  a  sirocco, 
and  render  it  an  arid  desert;  how  many  prayers,  that  ap- 
peared to  fall  back  upon  the  soul  like  burning  drops  of 
molten  lead,  had  been  breathed  in  its  dull  ear,  not  duller, 
though,  than  the  besotted  heart  of  the  wretched  inebriate, 
the  author  of  all  this  woe  ! 

He  had  fallen  near  a  stone-quarry,  and  the  deep  excava- 
tions in  the  side  of  the  hill  had  escaped  the  drifting  snow, 
and  now  exposed  to  view  an  abundance  of  comparatively 
dry  leaves  and  twigs.  One  of  these  excavations  Mattie 
selected  for  her  fireplace,  and,  striking  a  match,  commu- 
nicated the  ignition  to  paper,  which  she  had  brought  for 
the  purpose,  and  this  again  to  dry  leaves  and  twigs,  then 
to  chips  and  bits  of  bark,  till,  finally,  she  fanned  her  little 
spark  into  a  generous  flame. 

The  quarry  furnished  an  abundance  of  loose  stones, 
which  this  most  laborious  child  placed  around  the  fire,  and, 

as  they  warmed,  around  her  father — to  his  feet,  his  chest 

a  regular  fortification — and  so  fairly  built  out  death.  He 
was  covered  with  the  coarse  rugs  brought  from  home  for 
the  purpose,  and  these  retained  the  steam  produced  by  the 
hot  stones  upon  the  snow-covered  ground.  The  sleeper 
wTas  soon  enveloped  in  a  copious  vapor-bath ;  a  Thompso- 
nian  practitioner  could  scarcely  have  given  him  a  better. 


60  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

The  rigid  muscles  relaxed,  the  arms  moved,  the  lips  parted, 
and  a  deep  and  regular  breathing  proclaimed  a  natural  and 
recuperating  sleep. 

Mattie  seated  herself  upon  the  log,  and,  taking  his  head 
upon  her  lap,  chafed  the  clammy  brow, — that  gloriously 
expansive  brow, — one  which  bore  the  unmistakable  impress 
of  genius, — "  a  temple  where  a  God  might  dwell."  But 
what  doth  it  here  ?  Oh,  solve  me,  ye  who  can  ;  what  doth 
it  here  ? 

Thus  the  child  passed  the  night  in  the  forest,  minister- 
ing to  her  unconscious  father,  who,  but  for  her,  ere  morn- 
ing dawned,  would  have  passed  into  the  world  of  spirits. 
The  prayer  so  often  offered  in  his  behalf, — "Oh,  spare  the 
barren  lig-tree  yet  another  year," — again  was  laid  before 
the  throne,  again  was  heard  and  answered. 

Suddenly  Mr.  Douglas  awoke,  and,  looking  wildly 
around,  exclaimed, — 

"Mattie,  where  has  your  mother  gone?" 

"  She  is  at  home,  father,"  replied  the  child. 

"  Home  !  home!"  he  repeated;  "and  is  not  this  home?" 

"No,  father,  this  is  not  home." 

"But  your  mother  was  here  a  moment  since;  she  laid 
her  hand  upon  my  brow  and  kissed  my  cheek." 

"No,  father;  it  was  I  who  was  chafing  your  temples 
and  trying  to  revive  you  ;  and,  oh,  I  am  so  glad  you  have 
awakened,  for  mother  is  very  sick  at  home,  and  so  anxious 
about  us  out  in  the  cold  woods  all  night.  Come,  father, 
let  us  hasten  to  her."  And  the  child  essayed,  with  her 
puny  strength,  to  assist  the  large  man  to  rise. 

"  Your  mother  is  not  sick,"  sullenly  exclaimed  the  be- 
wildered man  ;  "she  was  here  this  moment,  She  did  not 
look  ill,  but  young  and  lovely  as  when  1  bore  her  from 
her  father's  halls  my  bride." 

"  Vou    have    been    dreaming,   father,"    said    the    child. 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  61 

"You  are  not  well,  yourself.  Let  us  hasten  home  to 
mother,  who  will  be  so  happy  to  see  us  return  in  safety 
after  such  an  awful  night." 

She  placed  in  his  hand  the  bridle  of  the  horse,  upon 
which  to  lean,  and,  replacing  upon  the  animal  the  baggage, 
led  the  way  homeward  with  a  light  and  joyous  step. 
Thoughts  of  her  mother's  loving,  grateful  smile,  which 
she  knew  would  be  lavished  upon  her,  so  elated  the 
child  that  she  could  scarcely  restrain  her  movements 
sufficiently  to  keep  pace  with  her  father's  uncertain  and 
tardy  step.  Her  young  heart  overflowed  with  glee;  she 
skipped  about  on  either  side,  and  tried  to  rouse  Carlo  to  a 
playful  chase  "  You  lazy  old  fellow,"  she  exclaimed, 
"why  don't  you  run  on  before  and  with  joyful  bark  ap- 
prise your  mistress  that  we  are  near  ?  Home,  home,  I 
say,  and  be  the  first  to  tell  the  joyful  news  !" 

But  Carlo  appeared  to  think  he  had  done  work  enough 
for  one  night,  and  with  drooping  tail  crouched  closer  to 
his  young  mistress's  side. 

Arrived  at  home,  Mattie  would  not  wait  to  unload  the 
horse,  but  entered  with  her  father,  impatient  to  witness 
the  first  burst  of  joyful  surprise,  to  receive  the  blessing 
which  she  knew  would  be  invoked  upon  her  by  her  grate- 
ful mother. 

By  this  time  the  husband  and  father  in  some  measure 
realized  his  own  condition,  his  narrow  escape  from  death, 
and  all  the  sad  circumstances  of  his  plight.  As  Mattie 
led  him  forward  to  the  bed  on  which  lay  his  wife,  he  half 
averted  his  head,  as  if  ashamed  to  meet  an  eye  whose 
very  look  of  sad  joy  and  mournful  love  would  be  reproach. 
But  he  need  not  fear;  those  eyes  will  never  look  reproach 
or  love  again.  A  wild  shriek  at  his  side  caused  him  to 
bound  from  the  floor. 

"  Oh,  my  mother,  my  mother !    She  is  dead,  she  is  dead !" 

6 


62  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

"  Lay  her  in  the  earth, 
And  from  her  fair  and  unpolluted  flesh 
May  riolets  spring." 

Sin  must  haye  an  expiatory  sacrifice ;  the  blood  of  in- 
nocence must  wash  oat  guilt.  It  is  strange  and  inexplica- 
ble, but  it  is  nevertheless  true,  an  atonement  for  sin  must 
be  made,  either  vicariously  or  otherwise.  From  the  blood 
of  Abel  to  that  of  the  Messiah,  and  from  that  dark  day 
on  which  the  earth,  in  horror  of  the  scene  it  witnessed, 
turned  back  upon  its  course,  to  the  present,  the  life-stream 
from  purity  and  innocence  has  poured  forth  its  rich  liba- 
tions upon  the  altar  of  pollution  and  crime. 

Mrs.  Douglas  had  spent  long  years  in  praying,  hoping, 
waiting  to  witness  the  reformation  of  her  husband.  No 
reward  for  all  her  constancy  had  she  found,  but  her  un- 
faltering love  still  pursued  him,  and,  like  a  dove  holding 
forth  the  olive-branch  of  peace,  ever  hovered  near. 

Her  tears,  her  sighs,  her  failing  health,  her  deadly 
pallor,  her  pleading  looks,  eloquent  with  feeling  too  deep 
for  utterance,  all  passed  unnoticed,  uncared  for,  by  the  in- 
fatuated victim  of  an  uncontrolled  appetite.  Her  spoken 
and  unspoken  sorrow  was  like  the  lost  mariner's  dying 
wail  for  help,  when  cast  upon  desolate  shores  where  none 
save  birds  and  beasts  give  audience  to  the  dreadful  dirge 
of  the  remorseless  sea.  But  now  that  the  wretched  man 
beheld  the  corpse  of  her  whom  he  had  sworn  to  cherish 
and  had  destroyed,  the  spell  of  sensual  sorcery  was 
broken,  conscience-riven,  and  his  mental  vision  cleared  at 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  63 

last,  but,  alas;,  too  late,  from  its  dark  and  deadly  obscura- 
tion!    Every  principle  of  the  man's  strong  but  hitherto 

bewildered  sense  of  right  cried  aloud  for  vengeance,  for 
vengeance  on  the  destroyer,  for  vengeance  on  himself! 
**  I  have  done  the  deed!  I  have  killed  my  wife !"  he  ex- 
claimed, in  throes  of  new-born,  keen  conviction.  "  O 
righteous  Heaven,  strike  the  murderer  dead!  let  the  same 
dark  grave  hide  the  destroyer  and  his  victim!  let  the  same 
sheet  of  death  wind  us  together  in  everlasting  oblivion! 
But,  no  !  Why  should  she  be  forgotten,  the  holy,  the  an- 
gelic? neither  should  the  vestments  that  shroud  her  pure 
form  touch  my  vile  clay.  0  God,  death  to  me  would  be 
too  great  a  boon  !  I  must  live  !  live  to  wear  out  the  rem- 
nant of  my  days  in  goading,  in  harrowing  remorse !  But 
stay,  0  spirit  of  my  sainted  wife,  stay  thy  Sight  and  bear 
my  vow  with  thee  to  heaven.  Never,  never  more  shaU 
the  accursed  cup  touch  my  polluted  lips  !" 

The  victim  was  slain,  the  sinner  was  saved. 

The  morning  dawned  in  beauty,  the  sun  rose  in  glory, 
and  looked  as  gayly  and  smilingly  around  upon  the  snow- 
clad  hills  as  if  there  was  no  sorrow  upon  earth,  no  cause 
for  sadness,  no  strife  of  elements,  no  destruction  of  hopes, 
no  cold  corpse  lying  in  the  cabin  of  crushed  and  broken 
hearts, — no  struggle  of  a  soul  compelled  to  quit  its  hold 
on  life,  just  at  the  very  moment  wThen  all  its  profoundest 
energies  of  purpose  were  called  into  most  active  use 
among  the  living. 

Mr.  Douglas  repaired  to  the  village  to  obtain  the  coffin 
and  make  what  preparation  he  could  for  the  burial.  The 
mean  structure  which  he  ordered  to  be  the  last  receptacle 
of  his  wife,  was,  how  different  in  expense  and  material 
from  that  costly  cradle  in  which  her  infancy  reposed! 
How  very  different  the  pageantry  and  pomp  with  which 
he  took  her  to  his  arms  a  bride,  from  the  style  in  which 


64  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

he  now  put  her  from  him  and  resigned  her  to  the  arms  of 
death!  —  yet,  like  Aleestis,  of  classic  memory,  she  had 
died  for  him  !  She  might  have  lived,  she  might  have 
returned  to  the  friends  of  her  youth,  and  enjoyed  in  their 
society  elegance  and  ease,  could  she  but  have  broken  from 
her  heart  those  bands  of  love,  sweeter  than  life,  stronger 
than  death,  that  bound  her  to  him  first,  that  bound  him 
last. 

A  boy,  whose  business  with  the  cabinet-maker  that 
morning  was  picture-frames  and  varnish,  stood  near  and 
heard  Mr.  Douglas  give  the  order  for  the  coffin  ;  he  in- 
stantly quitted  the  shop,  and,  mounting  his  horse,  hastened 
with  all  speed  to  his  mother — for  Bill  Bothermenot  had  a 
mother,  he  was  the  only  son  of  his  mother — and  she  was 
a  widow,  but  not  a  destitute  widow;  all  the  comforts, 
with  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life,  were  hers. 

"Mother!  mother!"  exclaimed  Bill,  rushing  into  the 
house,  "  Mrs.  Douglas  is  dead.  You  must  go  over  there  at 
once.  Only  think  of  that  poor  child  alone  with  her  dead 
mother.  Her  father  is  in  the  village.  I  saw  him  just  now. 
And  there  is  no  telling  when  he  may  go  home  again.  I 
will  have  the  carriage  waiting  in  a  moment,  mother.  Do 
please  make  haste." 

Bill  was  in  such  a  hurry  now  he  would  scarcely  give 
his  mother  time  to  put  her  bonnet  on,  and  but  for  him  she 
would  have  visited  Mrs.  Douglas  long  before,  because  she 
had  felt  much  interest  in  the  family  ever  since  Mattie's 
trouble  at  school,  in  which  her  son  had  played  so  promi- 
nent a  part;  but  he  constantly  dissuaded  her,  saying  Mrs. 
Douglas  did  not  wish  to  see  visitors.  He  had  drawn  the 
confession  from  Mattie  that  her  mother  shunned  society, 
and  a  visit  under  the  circumstances  would  be  an  intrusion. 

Bill's  mother  was  not  one  of  our  professionally  benevo- 
lent  people,   not   by  any  means  a  honeythunder,  or  the 


Oil    MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  (;,", 

seclusion  in  which  the  sensitiveness  of  Mrs.  Doug-las 
chose  to  enshroud  itself  would  have  been  invaded  ere 
this.  No,  she  was  not  one  of  those  who  take  pleasure  in 
witnessing  distress  and  a  pride  in  probing  wounds  in  the 
ulcerated  heart,  and  leading  on  to  suppuration  gangrenes 
that  else  might  have  healed  by  the  first  intention;  not 
one  of  those  who,  after  dispensing  a  penny  of  help  and  a 
pound  of  advice  to  the  poor  and  afflicted,  entertain  with 
glowing  accounts  of  their  generous  doings  the  fat  parson 
as  he  refreshes  himself  by  their  fountains  of  tea  and  crops 
delicious  herbage  from  their  mountains  of  dainties.  Oh, 
no,  Bill's  mother  was  not  one  of  these;  she  was  only  a 
lady  with  true  womanly  sympathies. 

As  Bill  and  his  mother  journeyed  on  to  the  house  of 
mourning,  said  the  boy,  "  Mother,  I  do  expect  Mr.  Doug- 
las has  not  a  spot  upon  the  earth  in  which  to  bury  his 
wife,  and  I  am  sure  he  is  not  able  to  purchase  now  ;  he 
will  have  to  put  her  in  a  corner  of  the  woods  or  in  a  gully 
by  the  roadside.  Won't  you  permit  me  to  invite  him  to 
bury  her  in  our  family  graveyard  ?" 

11 1  am  willing  that  you  shall  make  him  such  an  offer," 
said  the  mother,  "  and  I  thank  God  that  He  has  enabled 
me  to  furnish  a  grave  for  the  stranger;  but  I  thank  Him 
yet  more  for  the  noble,  generous-hearted  son  He  has  given 
me.  Xo  property,  however  valuable,*could  be  to  me  an 
equivalent  for  a  selfish,  unprincipled  child."  And  deli- 
cious tears  of  pride  and  joy  filled  the  grateful  mother's 
eyes. 

The  lady,  having  arrived  at  the  house  of  death,  found 
the  child  lying  upon  the  bed,  her  head  resting  upon  her 
mother's  corpse.  She  had  lain  there  since  her  return  from 
the  forest,  stunned,  stupefied  with  horror.  As  Mr.  Doug- 
las passed  through  the  room  on  his  way  out,  he  cast  a 
wistful  look  at  child  and  mother.     Supposing  the  former 


66  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

asleep,  he  would  not  awake  her,  but  went  on,  muttering  to 
himself,  "  Poor  child,  happy  for  her  could  her  sleep  also 
be  eternal.  Happy  for  both  could  one  grave  receive 
them." 

The  first  attention  of  the  lady  was  given  to  the  child. 
She  seated  her  upon  her  lap  and  tried  to  soothe  and  com- 
fort her.  But  what  comfort  can  be  given  to  one  whose 
all  in  life  is  lost,  and  lost  forever?  Mattie's  mother  was 
her  all.  Now  that  she  is  gone,  what  is  left  to  her  ?  what 
has  she  to  live  for  ? 

"Oh,  bury  me  in  the  grave  with  my  mother!"  she 
plead  to  the  lady  whose  arms  encircled  her. 

"  No,  no,  my  child,"  replied  the  lady;  "you  have  some- 
thing yet  to  live  for, — your  father!  Transfer  your  love 
to  him,  and  struggle  on  for  his  sake  if  not  for  your  own." 

This  remark  brought  to  the  mind  of  the  child  her 
mother's  dying  injunction,  when  on  the  preceding  night 
the  woman  stretched  forth  her  hands  in  the  agonies  of 
death,  and  cried  with  her  expiring  breath,  "  Oh,  Mattie ! 
Mattie  !  if  you  love  me,  take  care  of  him  !" 

After  the  lady  had  in  some  measure  succeeded  in 
quieting  the  child,  she  proceeded  to  dress  the  corpse  and 
prepare  it  for  burial.  In  after-years  it  was  a  source  of 
gratification  to  Mattie  to  remember  that  no  vulgar  or  mer- 
cenary hands  had  touched  that  mother's  sacred  clay, — for 
sacred  it  was  to  her. 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  67 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

CHARITY. 

u  Methinks  the  generous  and  the  good 
Shall  woo  thee  from  the  shades  of  solitude, 
O'er  friendless  grief  compassion  shall  awake, 
And  smile  on  innocence  for  mercy's  sake." 

The  burial  is  over,  the  devoted  wife,  the  fond,  faithful 
mother,  is  laid  away  plainly,  humbly,  in  her  cold,  dark 
dome,  forever  hid  from  the  longing  eyes  of  those  dear  ones 
for  whom  she  lived,  for  whom  she  died.  The  excitement 
of  the  occasion  is  over;  other  excitants  are  wanting,  and 
Mr.  Douglas  is  prostrate — is  ill.  Mattie  must  again  take 
her  position  as  nurse.  She  had  loved  her  mother  with 
every  power  of  her  strong,  earnest,  faithful  nature;  every 
energy  of  her  heart,  vigorous  to  love  and  to  labor,  was 
called  into  active  use,  every  chord  of  feeling  fully  strung, 
for  that  dear  mother.  That  channel  for  her  gushing  sym- 
pathies was  now  closed ;  the  flood  of  feeling  thus  driven 
back  upon  her  heart  happTly  found  another  outlet;  another 
object  for  care,  for  solicitude,  presented  itself;  and  that  ob- 
ject was  her  mother's  idol,  the  burden  of  her  dying  charge. 
The  resolve  of  the  girl's  heart  was  healthy  ;  she  determined 
to  devote  herself  to  the  living  for  the  sake  of  the  dead. 

The  physician  summoned  to  attend  Mr.  Douglas  gave 
it  as  his  opinion  that  many  months,  perhaps  years,  must 
elapse  before  the  tone  of  his  system,  impaired  by  long 
abuse,  would  be  so  far  restored  as  to  enable  the  unhappy 
man  to  engage  again  in  the  active  pursuits  of  life.  This 
announcement  fell  upon  Mattie's  heart  like  a  stone.     She 


68  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

knew  some  one  must  labor  for  their  support ;  her  mother 
had  for  years — her  father  was  now  incapable,  and  what 
could  her  child-hands  accomplish  ?  Neither  was  Mattie 
alone  in  her  anxiety.  Her  father,  aroused  at  last  from  his 
Rip-Van-Winkle  torpor,  from  a  lethargy  that  had  chained 
him  during  the  best  years  of  his  life,  beheld  with  dismay 
the  lowering  tempest.  It  was  now  all  too  late  to  retrace 
his  steps  ;  the  storm  was  upon  him,  the  flood  of  evil  which 
he  had  been  heaping  up  for  his  own  destruction  bore 
down  upon  him  with  resistless  violence — to  escape  was 
impossible. 

"  Mattie,"  said  the  unfortunate  man,  "  I  wish  to  talk  to 
you  of  the  future ;  it  is  useless  now  to  speak  of  the  past. 
It  appears  I  shall  not  be  able  for  some  time,  if  ever  again, 
to  engage  in  active  business  ;  consequently,  as  I  am  pos- 
sessed of  no  means  of  support,  I  must  seek  an  asylum  for 
the  present  in  an  institution  provided  for  indigent  sick. 
With  what  little  money  I  can  raise  from  the  sale  of  my 
few  effects,  I  will  send  you  to  your  relations  beyond  the 
seas.  I  will  get  a  person  in  the  neighborhood  to  put  you 
on  board  a  vessel,  and  I  will  write  to  your  friends  (though 
1  have  had  no  communication  with  them  for  years)  to  ap- 
prise them  of  your  arrival.  You  will  be  kindly  received 
and  tenderly  cared  for  by  your  *tnother's  family,  and  once 
with  them  you  will  not  only  be  safe  from  the  ills  that  arise 
from  poverty  and  disgrace,  but  you  will  enjoy  the  luxuries 
of  life  and  the  elegancies  of  refined  society.  For  this  last 
advantage,  especially,  I  wish  you  to  go,  and  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  that  position  in  life  which  is  your  birthright,  but 
from  which  my  sad  career  lias  debarred  you,  banish  for- 
ever from  your  breast  all  memories  of  your  unfortunate 
father." 

"  No,  father!"  replied  the  child,  firmly,  calmly,  proudly. 
"  I  cannot  go  !     The  last  words  my  mother  ever  spoke  to 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  69 

1110  wore,  '  If  you  lovo  me,  take  care  of  him  !'  How,  then, 
could  I  go  away  and  leave  you  siek,  with  none  but 
Btrangers,  who  do  not  love  you,  to  attend  you  ?  Oh,  no,  I 
cannot  go." 

"  But,  child,"  said  the  man,  with  deep  emotion,  "  what 
will  subsist  us?     We  have  no  resource." 

"  I  do  not  know,"  she  replied,  "  what  we  will  do ;  but 
my  mother  told  me  always  to  trust  in  God,  and  He  could 
bring  it  to  pass.     I  will  try  that." 

Mr.  Douglas  gazed  upon  his  daughter  with  mingled 
curiosity  and  astonishment;  she  evinced  such  childlike 
simplicity,  mingled  with  such  matronly  firmness,  he  knew 
not  how  to  account  for  the  opposites  of  her  character. 
He  did  not  reflect  that  the  seclusion  in  which  she  had 
been  raised  fostered  the  one  element,  while  the  burden 
that  he  had  imposed  upon  her  heart  and  energies  matured 
the  other. 

Mattie,  however,  had  found  a  better  friend  in  her  emer- 
gency than  Mr.  Douglas  suspected,  or  than  she  herself  had 
dared  to  hope.  Bill  Bothermenot's  mother  was  her  daily 
visitor,  companion,  and  counselor.  It  was  curious  to 
observe  how  everything  about  the  place  suddenly  changed  ; 
how  the  shabby  brush-heap  at  the  door  reformed  its  char- 
acter, and  became  a  respectable  and  comfortable-looking 
woodpile  ;  how  the  horse  grew  fatter,  the  cow  less  shiver- 
ing, and  how  even  Biddy,  the  hen,  cackled  as  if  her  pros- 
pects in  life  had  brightened  considerably.  Yet  all  this  was 
done  cautiously,  and  in  a  manner  the  least  calculated  to 
wound  feelings  sensitive  and  constitutionally  independent. 
The  jellies  and  cake,  the  nicely-prepared  nourishment  of 
every  description  brought  daily  by  the  lady,  she  told 
Mattie,  were  in  consideration  of  the  well-known  capricious- 
ness  of  invalid  appetite,  which  always  preferred  what 
came  from  abroad.     "Besides,"  said  the  lady,  "you  are 


TO  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

so  much  employed  in  attendance  upon  your  father,  you 
have  not  time  to  prepare  his  nourishment."  She  did  uot 
wish  Mattie  to  suppose  that  she  was  aware  there  was  no 
food  in  the  house  fur  her  to  prepare. 

Mattie's  lip  quivered,  and  her  eye  moistened;  but  she 
only  replied,  "  I  thank  you,  ma'am,  and  I  shall  never  for- 
get your  kindness  or  fail  to  repay  it  to  you  or  yours." 

How  many  years  rolled  their  sad  and  joyous  rounds, 
how  many  bitter  draughts,  mixed  with  a  few  sweets,  how- 
ever, had  this  child  to  drink,  before  this  promise,  thus 
casually  made,  was  sacredly  kept  1 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE  KELSOES. 

"On  all  sides,  from  innumerable  tongues, 
A  dismal,  universal  hiss,  the  sound 
Of  public  scorn." 

Among  the  myriads  flung  upon  our  shores  from  the  isle 
of  "bogs  and  blunders"  were  the  two  brothers  John  and 
Thomas  Kelso.  An  uncle  had  preceded  them  to  this  land 
of  Canaan,  and,  as  he  had  become  rich,  and  was  yet  a 
bachelor,  these  youths,  considering  themselves  his  heirs 
at  law,  scented  him  across  the  briny  deep  as  instinct- 
ively as  the  crow  scents  the  carrion.  They  did  not 
wait,  however,  for  a  dead  man's  shoes  or  bones,  but  ob- 
tained the  means  of  subsistence  by  becoming  drivers  of 
butchers'  carts.  By  helping  here  and  there  about  the 
slaughter-house,  they  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  business, 
which   they  commenced   for  themselves,  when,  upon  the 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  71 

sudden  death  of  the  old  miser-uncle,  they  obtained 
sufficient  means.  The  lives  of  these  two  men  may  be 
written  in  two  words, — obtain  and  detain.  For  fear  one 
would  excel  the  other  in  a  matrimonial  speculation,  they 
married  sisters, — Maryland  girls  from  Cecil  County.  The 
old  field-house,  with  its  field  and  garden,  was  owned  by 
the  brother  Thomas.  It  was  the  mere  corner-nook  of  a 
splendid  tract  of  land,  and  the  grotesque,  antiquated 
cabin  of  unhewn  logs  had  evidently  been  one  of  the  first 
erected  while  Maryland  was  yet  a  colony,  and  probably 
occupied  by  the  party  who  reclaimed  the  soil  from  its 
savage  ownership.  When  rented  by  Mrs.  Douglas,  it  was 
perfectly  untenantable.  With  her  own  hands  she  made 
mortar  of  mud  and  filled  the  interstices  between  the  logs 
where  the  original  filling  had  mouldered  away.  The  rents 
in  the  roof,  through  which  the  rain  poured  in  torrents,  she 
employed  a  colored  man  to  mend.  He  also  dug  up  the 
garden-ground,  which  Mrs.  Douglas  planted,  for,  like 
Abdalonimus,  she  worked  in  her  garden  ;  but,  alas  for  the 
poetry  of  it  !  no  Alexander  came  to  her  rescue.  Uncle 
Jack,  as  the  man-of-all-work  was  called,  was  the  ser- 
vant of  a  gentleman  living  a  few  miles  away,  and  on 
holidays  and  moonlight  nights,  to  obtain  a  little  pocket- 
money,  Jack  tinkered  and  did  rough  jobs  of  carpenter's 
work.  And  rough  work  it  was,  indeed,  but  then  the 
charge  he  made  was  small,  quite  within  the  reach  of  all. 
Mrs.  Douglas  paid  him  in  sewing  for  the  work  he  did  for 
her.  She  made  him  a  Sunday  shirt  of  white  cotton,  and 
Mattie  hemmed  for  him  a  pink  cravat,  and  a  red  and  yel- 
low flowered  pocket-handkerchief,  and  when,  on  Sundays, 
he  was  dressed  in  his  Sunday  suit,  bought  with  his  little 
between-time  earnings,  Jack  felt  joyous  and  proud,  and 
stepped  about  with  the  firm  and  lofty  tread  of  a  free-born 
man. 


72  DOIXGS  TN  MARYLAND, 

Said  Jack  to  his  Dinah,  "  Now,  I  don't  like  to  take  dis 
'ere  soin  from  dat  dare  lady,  bekase  I  knows  as  how  she  am 
awful  poor,  and  I  knows  she  warn't  always  as  she  is  now. 
She  is  a  rale  lady,  I  knows  dat,  and  I  hates  to  make  her 
work  for  me,  but  she  would  not  let  me  mend  the  ruff  till 
I  promised  to  gib  her  de  soin  for  to  pay  for  it." 

Said  Dinah,  "  Well,  Jack,  can't  we  make  up  de  price  ob 
de  soin  to  de  white  lady  ?  When  your  pumpkins  am  ripe, 
can't  you  tote  some  to  her,  and  baskets  of  taters ?  The 
next  holiday  we  has,  I  means  to  go  ober  and  whitewash  de 
cabin  inside  and  out  for  her,  and  I  means  to  tote  her  baskets 
of  'simmons  and  chestnuts,  and  you  can  give  some  of  de 
rabbits  and  birds  what  you  catches  in  de  traps,  and  so  we 
will  kind  a  make  it  up  to  de  poor  lady." 

Said  Jack,  "  Dinah,  you  is  de  beautifulest  critter  on  dis 
broad  yearth.  You  has  got  de  best  heart  dat  I  ebber  did 
see.  I  lubs  you  more  and  more  ebery  day,  for  de  good 
heart  dat  am  in  your  body." 

Jack  was  a  faithful  servant,  and  his  master  had  given  him 
a  garden- spot  among  the  stumps  in  the  newly-cleared  field, 
and  thus  Jack  owned  the  pumpkins  and  potatoes  which  he 
was  willing  to  divide  with  the  "poor  white  lady." 

On  Sabbath,  when  the  white  folks  were  at  church  sing- 
ing praise  to  Heaven  from  velvct-and-gilt-bound  books, 
Jack  was  in  his  garden  hoeing  down  the  weeds,  and  mak- 
ing hills  and  valleys  ring  with  his  anthems  of  praise;  not 
sung  from  books,  however,  but  from  a  heart  overflowing 
with  gratitude  to  the  good  God  who  had  given  him  such 
big  pumpkins  and  such  lots  of  mealy  potatoes.  Taken 
all  together,  Jack  was  a  pretty  good  fellow,  though  not 
equal  to  that  wonderful  old  Tiff  who  went  to  camp-meeting 
to  "hunt  for  }ligion"  to  give  his  dead  mistress's  children, 
and  who,  by  the  way,  is  the  best,  though  the  least  noticed, 
of  all  Mrs.  Stowc's  peculiar  gang. 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  73 

Frequently,  in  the  morning,  when  Mrs.  Douglas  arose, 
she  found  a  brace  of  partridges,  a  pheasant,  or  a  rabbit  tied 
to  the  latch-string  outside  the  door,  and  then  she  knew 
that  kind  old  Jack  had  made  her  a  visit  while  she  slept, 
and  left  food  almost  as  miraculous  as  that  which  the 
prophet  received  when  fed  by  the  ravens. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass,  when  Mrs.  Douglas  had  plas- 
tered the  walls,  and  Jack  had  mended  the  roof,  and  Dinah 
had  whitewashed  the  cabin  inside  and  out,  and  Mattie  had 
embellished  the  exterior  with  all  manner  of  beautiful  vines 
and  creeping*  plants,  the  place  presented  so  attractive  an 
appearance  that  Mr.  Kelso  raised  the  rent !  Hitherto,  by 
means  of  perpetual  labor  and  the  most  self-denying  econ- 
omy, Mrs.  Douglas  had  managed  to  pay  the  rent;  but  now 
that  it  was  raised  beyond  her  ability  to  pay,  an  arrearage 
accumulated  on  the  rent-roll,  and  a  weight  on  her  spirits, 
neither  of  which  she  was  able  to  remove. 

After  the  death  of  this  martyred  woman,  Mr.  Kelso 
visited  the  cabin  to  collect,  if  possible,  his  overdue  pit- 
tance. Learning  from  the  child  that  her  father  was  sick, 
and  destitute  of  money,  the  landlord  proposed  (we  would 
say  coolly,  only  that  he  was  angry)  that  the  cow  and 
horse  should  be  given  up  to  him,  and  that  a  black  family 
should  be  taken  into  the  hut  as  co-renters.  There  were 
but  two  rooms,  both  ground  rooms.  "  One  was  sufficient 
for  such  poor  people,"  Mr.  Kelso  said,  "  and  the  rent  would 
be  less  in  consequence." 

To  be  co-renters  with  blacks,  in  the  South,  was  always 
considered  the  last  round  in  the  social  ladder;  and  when 
this  proposal  was  made  to  Mattie,  she  sat  so  still,  and 
looked  so  deadly  white,  that  you  might  have  supposed 
Mr.  Kelso  had  just  made  an  image  of  the  snow  that  lay  in 
heaps  outside  the  door.  At  length,  forcing  back  the  tears 
that  were  chokiug  it,  the  snow  image  spoke: 

7 


74  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"  Please,  sir,  don't  tell  my  father  this  yet  awhile  ;  he  is 
so  sick,  it  would  kill  him.  Please,  sir,  wait  awhile,  and  as 
soon  as  the  weather  is  a  little  warm  we  will  go  away,  and 
give  jTou  up  the  house;  and  I  expect  my  father  will  give 
you  the  horse  and  the  cow  for  the  rent  that  is  due." 

"I'll  take  them  without  his  consent!"  said  the  stern 
man.  "  But  how  is  it  that  your  animals  are  in  such  good 
condition  now  ?  You  raised  nothing  worth  while  on  the 
place  last  year.    Do  you  steal  food  for  them  ?" 

This  was  more  than  the  already  overburdened  heart  of 
the  child  could  bear,  and,  bursting  into  tears,  she  cried  out, 
"  Oh,  no  !  no,  sir  1  we  don't  steal ;  Mrs.  Allston  sends  prov- 
ender for  the  cattle,  and  she  visits  my  father  every  day ;  and 
I  wish  she  were  here  now,  to  tell  you  that  we  do  not  steal." 

"  Mrs.  Allston  ?  Mrs.  Allston?  Indeed  !"  When  Mr. 
Kelso  heard  that  Mrs.  Allston  visited  these  people,  he  in- 
stantly arose,  and,  without  saying  another  word,  left  the 
house. 

As  lucky  Mr.  Kelso  had  obtained  everything  he  wanted, 
so  he  had  obtained  the  name  of  being  a  charitable  man, 
and  a  Christian.  Then  here  was  a  pretty  muddle  !  People 
would  know  that  he  was  screwing  these  unfortunates  to 
get  a  little  rent  for  a  dog-kennel  of  a  lodge,  and  they  with 
death,  sickness,  and  starvation  inside. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Kelso's  departure,  .Mrs.  Allston  arrived. 
Mattie  was  still  sobbing.     The  lady  asked  the  cause. 

Said  the  weeping  girl,  "Mr.  Kelso  has  been  here,  and 
wants  us  to  take  a  black  family  into  the  house,  because  we 
owe  him  rent." 

"  Pool),  pooh  !  Nonsense  !  A  black  family,  indeed!  The 
man  must  be  deranged,"  replied  the  lady. 

"lie  says,''  continued  Mattie,  "that  he  will  take  the 
horse  and  the  COW  for  the  rent  we  owe  him." 

"How  much  do  you  owe  him?" 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  75 

"I  heard  my  mother  say  it  was  fifty  dollars,"  said  the 
figure,  white  as  snow  again  at  the  mention  of  mother. 

"Well,  surely  the  old  Shylock  will  not  take  both  horse 
ami  cow  for  fifty  dollars;  but,  indeed,  there  is  no  telling 
what  rapacity,  unchecked  by  law,  will  not  do.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  know  much  about  law,  but  I  have  heard  my 
husband  say  that  some  of  the  Maryland  laws,  like  those  of 
the  English,  from  which  they  were  copied,  were  barbarous." 

M  He  asked  me,"  continued  the  child,  "  if  we  stole  the 
food  for  the  animals,  because  they  are  looking  so  well  now, 
and  we  raised  nothing  on  the  place  last  year." 

Mrs.  Allston's  indignant  blood  flushed  high  into  her  ex- 
pressive face,  and  her  eye  beamed  with  a  light  that  was 
foreign  to  its  benignant  sheen.  "  The  brute,"  she  exclaimed, 
"thus  to  insult  a  helpless  child!" 

"  I  said  to  him,  that  you  would  tell  him  if  we  stole, 
or  not,  and  as  soon  as  I  mentioned  your  name  he  looked 
surprised,  and  left  the  house." 

"  Well,  I  shall  see  the  poor  creature  about  the  business ; 
and  now  you  hush  crying,  and  don't  you  mention  one  word 
of  this  to  your  father  ;  as  soon  as  spring  comes  I  shall  re- 
move you  both  from  this  place,  and  in  the  mean  time  I 
shall  see  Mr.  Kelso  and  secure  you  from  further  annoy- 
ance." 

Said  Bill,  who  .was  a  silent,  but  not  uninterested,  spec- 
tator, "  Mother,  permit  me  to  accompany  you  when  you 
visit  Mr.  Kelso  ?  He  might  be  insolent,  and,  if  he  were,  I 
would  knock  him  down,  as  he  does  his  bullocks." 

"No,  my  son,"  said  the  mother,  smiling,  "you  need  not 
fear;  Mr.  Kelso  will  not  be  insolent  to  me;  he  is  of  that 
order  of  snobs  who  have  courage  only  to  insult  helpless 
and  unprotected  poverty." 

"I  wish,"  said  Mattie,  "that  I  could  do  work  of  some 
kind,  to  pay  the  rent ;  I  don't  know  what  we  will  do  with- 


T6  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

out  the  horse  and  the  cow,  if  Mr.  Kelso  should  take 
them." 

"  I  will  attend  to  that,"  said  the  lady;  "  he  shall  not  take 
the  little  stock  you  have.  But  what  kind  of  work  do  you 
want  ?" 

"  My  mother  intended  me  for  a  teacher ;  but  I  did  not 
get  an  opportunity  to  finish  my  education.  I  could  do 
needlework,  though  ;  I  understand  'most  all  kinds  of  needle- 
work." 

"  Then  you  could  teach  needlework,  and,  I  dare  say, 
many  other  things,  if  you  were  a  little  older,  for  you  are 
uncommonly  well  educated  for  a  girl  of  your  age.  I  sup- 
pose your  mother  was  your  teacher  ?" 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  she  was,  and  she  intended  that  I  should 
be  educated  for  a  teacher  myself;  but  she  was  taken  from 

me  so  unexpectedly "  And  here  the  girl  again  broke 

down,  and  tears  choked  her  utterance. 

Said  the  lady,  "  I  should  think  you  might  be  a  teacher 
of  young  children,  even  now,  young  as  you  are ;  I  have 
read  of  such  things  having  been  done  before,  and  why 
not  again  ?  You  are  a  thoughtful  child,  and  seem  to  have  a 
great  deal  of  character,  and,  I  think,  independence,  too;  the 
wish  you  have  just  now  expressed  for  work  is  indicative 
of  such  a  trait,  aud  I  am  pleased  to  observe  it." 

Mattie's  eye  brightened  with  pleasure,  and  she  replied, 
through  her  tears,  "  If  age  is  my  only  fault,  ma'am,  I  will 
try  and  be  old;  but  I  will  not  be  cross  to  the  little  chil- 
dren, and  hate  them,  because  they  have  not  a  father  on  the 
'  committee.' " 

Mrs.  Allston  smiled  at  the  earnest  simplicity  of  the  child, 
and  replied,  "  Well,  in  the  spring  I  shall  see  what  kind 
of  a  school  1  can  get  for  you.  In  the  mean  time,  make  your 
mind  easy;  I  will  take  care  of  the  present,  and  the  future 
is  with  God." 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  \*\ 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE     KELSOES  —  CONTINUED. 

"We  are  to  blame  in  this, 
'Tis  too  much  proved,  that  with  devotion's  visage 
And  pious  action  we  do  sugar  o'er 
The  Devil  himself." 

The  Kelsoes,  though  wealthy,  did  not  pass  as  current 
coin  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  they  had  located  their 
country  residence.  They  were  recognized  as  vulgar  people, 
bloated  with  money,  and  the  surrounding  gentry  rather 
shied  off  and  left  them  alone  in  their  gilded  glory.  A 
visit  from  Mrs.  Allston,  then,  was  as  great  a  social  triumph 
as  Mr.  Kelso  could  have  asked,  and  the  plethoric-pursed 
butcher  could  scarcely  regret,  since  the  visit  was  actually 
obtained,  that  it  was,  if  not  his  brutes,  his  brutality  which 
obtained  it.  The  wife  of  brother  Thomas,  who  was  owner 
of  the  old  field-house,  was  the  impersonation  of  vulgarity, 
but,  like  many  such,  had  the  most  excessive  desire  to 
appear  well-bred,  and  made  the  most  desperate  efforts  to 
imitate  what  she  supposed  would  be  the  manners  and  con- 
versation of  people  in  the  higher  circles  of  society.  Her 
mind  was  as  weak  as  it  was  vulgar,  and  her  efforts  to 
appear  elegant  failed  oftener  than  they  succeeded,  but, 
with  the  most  laudable  perseverance,  she  still  kept  trying. 
If  by  chance  she  got  hold  of  a  "big  wrord,"  as  she  called 
it,  she  would  fatigue  the  poor  word  to  death,  fairly  wear 
it  out;  and  then,  catching  at  another,  it  shared  the  same 
fate. 

The  preacher  made  use  of  the  word  redundant;  Mrs. 
7* 


•78  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Kelso  caught  it  as  it  flew  along,  and  henceforth  every- 
thing upon  the  earth  was  redundant.  She  would  say- 
to  the  waiter,  "  John,  the  dust  in  the  parlor  is  redun- 
dant." To  the  cook,  "  Dolly,  the  dinner  was  cooked  redun- 
dant to-day."  To  her  daughter,  "  My  dear,  your  dress  is 
redundant  long."  To  her  husband,  "  My  dear,  those  horses 
run  so  redundant  that  I  am  afraid  to  get  in  the  carriage." 
The  pickles  were  redundant  with  spice,  the  butter  with 
salt,  the  gumbo  with  pepper,  the  crabs  with  mustard. 
The  parson's  grace  at  table  was  redundant,  and  the  howling 
of  the  dog  in  the  yard  was  the  same.  For  the  time  being 
everything  was  redundant  with  Mrs.  Kelso;  and  then  she 
would  wring  her  hands,  sway  her  head  from  side  to  side, 
purse  up  her  mouth,  mince  her  words,  make  her  voice  fine 
(cultivated!),  and  put  on  all  the  airs  of  a  boarding-school- 
girl of  sixteen. 

The  eldest  son  of  these  people  was  a  confirmed  idiot ; 
their  eldest  daughter,  little  better,  though  they  had  bought 
to  be  her  husband  a  man  who  was  by  trade  a  minister  of 
the  gospel.     The  Lord  have  mercy  on  us! 

The  servants  of  the  Allston  mansion  were  greatly  sur- 
prised one  morning  when  the  order  came  for  the  large  family 
carriage  to  be  taken  from  its  long  resting-place,  washed  and 
dusted  for  use.  This  carriage  of  state  had  never  been 
used  since  the  death  of  Mr.  Allston,  now  a  period  of  live 
years;  but  Bill  wished  that  his  mother  should  not  visit 
what  might  prove  a  hostile  domain  without  her  attendants 
and  such  a  display  as  would  at  once  bring  down  the  pre- 
tensions of  people  who  scorned  elegant  simplicity  and  only 
respected  ostentatious  display.  Said  Bill,  "The  livery  of 
your  servants,  mother,  will  have  more  effect  upon  the 
Kelsoes  than  all  the  arguments  that  could  be  adduced  in 
favor  of  the  cause  of  humanity." 

"  If  it  will  benefit   the  Douglases,"  said   the  mother, 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  79 

why,  then,  order  the  large  carnage,  though,  in  truth,  I 
would  rather  go  in  the  small  one." 

With  liveried  servants  mounted  before  and  behind  this 
carriage  of  state,  Mrs.  Allston  set  out  on  her  mission  of 
mercy.  The  Kelsoes  spent  the  winter  months  in  their 
costly  city  residence,  but  were  out  accidentally  on  the  farm 
at  this  time,  attending  to  some  new  dairy  arrangements, 
and  thus  were  easy  of  access.  Mr.  Kelso  spied  the  rich 
equipage  advancing  up  the  avenue,  and  concluded  that 
the  riders  had  lost  their  way  ;  but  the  carriage  resolutely 
advanced,  and  actually  stopped  before  his  door.  The  ser- 
vant from  behind  leaped  from  his  place,  and,  throwing 
open  the  carriage-door,  asked  for  orders. 

"Inquire,"  said  his  mistress,  "if  Mrs.  or  Mr.  Kelso  is 
at  home."  In  blank  amazement,  the  last-named  emerged 
from  his  hiding-place,  and  with  much  grimace  and  many 
bows  assisted  the  most  unexpected  visitor  to  alight.  Mrs. 
Kelso  came  flying  into  the  parlor  like  a  hen  frightened 
from  her  nest — all  in  a  flutter  of  amazement,  only  wonder- 
ing wThat  she  should  do,  to  do  like  a  lady !  She  com- 
menced,— "  Well,  now,  really  this  is  redundant  kind  in 
you  to  come  on  this  cold  day.  And  really  it  gives  me 
redundant  pleasure  to  see  you,  Mrs.  Allston ;  but  I  regret 
most  redundant  that  you  should  find  us  in  such  poor  trim. 
Take  off  your  things,  anyhow,  and  spend  the  day.  I 
know  it  will  give  you  redundant  pleasure  to  excuse  every- 
thing, as  your  visit  is  so  redundant  unexpected." 

"  I  ought  rather  to  be  the  apologist  on  this  occasion," 
said  the  lady,  "for  visiting  you  in  the  country  at  this  un- 
seasonable time  of  year,  but  my  feelings  are  so  much 
interested  in  a  family  who  are  tenants  of  yours,  that  I 
dared  to  hope  you  would  excuse  etiquette  for  the  sake  of 
humanity." 

Mrs.  Kelso  smirked,  wrung  her  hands,  waved  her  head, 


80  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

and  replied,  "Certainly,  ma'am,  certainly.  I  shall  be 
redundant  happy  to  do  anything  you  wish."  Mr.  Kelso 
also  assured  the  visitor  that  "  anything  he  could  do  for 
her  should  be  done  in  a  high  state  of  pleasure." 

The  lady  resumed  :  "  I  wish  to  come  to  the  point  at  once, 
Mr.  Kelso,  and  therefore  promise  to  assume  the  debt  of 
Mr.  Douglas;  but  with  respect  to  the  admission  of  a  black 
family  into  the  house,  that  cannot  be  thought  of  for  a  mo- 
ment. I  have  already  offered  Mr.  Douglas  an  asylum  in 
my  house,  which  he  has  thought  proper  to  decline.  But 
should  }^ou  persist  in  introducing  blacks  into  their  little 
lodge,  I  shall  carry  him  and  the  child  away  by  force." 

Said  Mr.  Kelso,  "  Why,  really,  Mrs.  Allston,  though  it  is 
true  I  should  like  to  have  my  rent,  yet  if  I  had  thought 
that  these  people  were  friends  of  yours  I  would  not  have 
interfered  with  them  in  the  least." 

Said  the  lady,  "They  are  not  friends  of  mine,  sir, — 
only  by  the  ties  of  humanity,  and  in  that  sense  they  are 
equally  friends  of  yours.  I  never  saw  the  people  until 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Douglas  made  it  imperative  that  some 
one  of  human  kind  should  look  in  upon  their  misery.  I 
much  regret,  however,  that  I  did  not  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Mrs.  Douglas,  for  I  infer  she  must  have  been  a 
superior  woman,  to  judge  from  the  manner  in  which  she 
has  educated  her  daughter.  Mr.  Douglas,  too,  I  find,  is  a 
gentleman,  both  by  birth  and  education,  but  has  unfor- 
tunately fallen  a  victim  to  a  vice  which  bids  fair  to  become 
a  national  one." 

Mrs.  Kelso  interrupted, — "Oh,  Mrs.  Allston,  Mr.  Kelso 
is  the  very  soul  of  generosity;  indeed,  his  charities  are 
redundant,  and  1  am  sure  he  will  be  as  redundant  willing 
to  forgive  the  debt  as  you  could  be  to  pay  it." 

"The  cognizance  of  the  world  has  a  very  sensible  effect 
upon  our  charities  sometimes,"  replied  the  huh',  with  a 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  81 

feeling  of  scorn  she  could  not  resist.  "  This  debt  is  but  a 
trifle  at  most,  and,  to  a  gentleman  of  Mr.  Kelso's  means, 
nothing.  Besides,  the  house  was  unfit  for  occupancy  when 
Mrs.  Douglas  entered  it;  indeed,  a  person  who  would 
have  quartered  his  blacks  in  such  a  place  would  not  have 
been  received  in  the  society  of  the  neighborhood;  and 
when  with  her  own  hands  she  made  it  tolerable,  the  rent 
was  raised  beyond  her  ability  to  pay." 

A  bright  spot  of  red  was  perceptible  upon  the  cheek  of 
Mr.  Kelso,  but  his  lady  did  not  appear  to  understand  that 
any  censure  was  implied  in  Mrs.  Allston's  remarks,  and 
went  on  to  declare  that  the  people  should  have  redundant 
peace  so  far  as  they  were  concerned,  "for  Mr.  Kelso,"  she 
said,  "  was  the  most  redundant  kind  man  in  the  world, 
and  gave  away  more  money  in  the  course  of  a  year  than 
would  be  sufficient  to  support  a  large  family." 

Mrs.  Allston  continued:  "In  the  spring,  when  the 
weather  is  sufficiently  warm  to  permit  the  removal  of  the 
invalid,  I  shall  provide  other  quarters  for  him  and  the 
child,  and  in  the  mean  time,  I  ask  as  a  favor,  that  they 
may  not  be  subjected  to  annoyance  of  any  kind,  as  I 
promise  to  pay  the  rent  so  long  as  they  remain  at  '  Old- 
fields.'" 

Mr.  Kelso  assured  the  lady  that  the  people  should  not 
be  subjected  to  any  annoyance  from  him;  his  greedy  eyes 
glistened  with  delight  when  he  heard  her  promise  to  pay 
the  money. 

A  few  evenings  after  the  interview  here  detailed,  this 
charitable  man  was  in  the  city,  and,  with  important 
bustle,  preparing  to  attend  a  fashionable  meeting  called 
by  fashionable  people  for  a  fashionable  purpose,  namely, 
to  express  sympathy  with  the  Laplanders.  It  seems 
the  frigid  zone  had  been  cheered  by  an  unusually  vivid 
display  of  the  aurora  borealis,  and  the  excessive  bright- 


82  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

ness  reflected  by  the  snow  had  affected  the  reindeer  and 
given  them  a  soreness  of  the  eyes,  which  was  for  the 
time  epidemic.  By  this  most  unusual  occurrence,  the 
scientific  Laplanders  had  been  deprived  of  a  contemplated 
excursion  to  the  North  Pole,  or  at  least  the  eagerly  an- 
ticipated expedition  had  to  be  postponed.  A  meeting  was 
called  for  Americans  to  express  sympathy  with  their  cool- 
headed  and  cool-footed  brothers  in  a  disappointment  that 
affected  not  only  themselves  but  the  world  ;  as  it  had  been 
confidently  expected  that  this  party  of  explorers  would 
not  only  bring  home  the  North  Pole,  but  Sir  John  Frank- 
lin with  it. 

The  meeting  was  called,  and  duly  organized  by  placing 
Mr.  Strokemyback  in  the  chair,  and  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  draft  resolutions  of  condolence.  Mr.  Kelso — 
poor  Mattie's  persecutor  for  fifty  dollars — arrived  rather 
late  for  a  correct  understanding  of  the  object  of  the  meet- 
ing. Supposing,  however,  that  nothing  but  money  could 
possibly  be  wanted  anywhere,  he  arose  in  the  crowd,  and, 
with  a  thousand  fat  and  fashionable  eyes  flashing  upon 
him,  cried  out,  "  Mr.  Chairman,  put  down  a  hundred 
dollars  for  each  of  the  brothers  John  and  Thomas  Kelso." 

Mr.  Kelso  was  publicly  pious  as  well  as  publicly  chari- 
table, lie  prayed  in  public  by  weight  much  longer  than 
that  by  which  he  weighed  his  beef;  long  weight  and  loud 
weight  was  the  measure  of  his  public  prayers.  lie 
thanked  God  that  "  he,  humble  Tom,  was  worthy  to  be 
good  and  great."  And,  as  an  accompanying  paean  of 
praise  to  Heaven,  he  jingled  the  money  in  his  pocket  as 
he  prayed. 

The  Kc'socs  are  by  no  means  an  extinct  race,  or  few  in 
number,  for  of  all  the  large  bequests  that  astonish  the 
world,  how  few  spring  from  the  principle  which  has  for 
its  motto,  "  Thou,  God,  seest  me;"  but  rather  from    that 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  83 

self-soothing   emulgcnt,    "  Thou,  world,  look    and   behold 
me  !" 

And  now  we  gladly  take  our  leave  of  the  Kelsoes. 
They  are  unpleasant  people  to  be  with,  and  never  would 
have  received  even  a  passing  notice  from  us,  only  that  we 
could  not  set  forth  Mattie's  indebtedness  to  Mrs.  Allston, 
or  the  great  merit  of  that  most  estimable  woman,  without 
allusion  to  those  vulgar,  purse-proud  toadies  whom  to  know 
is  to  abhor. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

"TROUBLE   LOVES   A   TRAIN." 

"  0  Death  !  death  !  death  !  thou  art  not  half  so  cruel 
In  thy  destruction  of  the  prosperous, 
As  in  not  killing  wretches  that  would  die." 

Spring  has  come,  with  its  fragile,  half-developed  leaf, 
its  tiny  bud,  its  softened  gale,  and  emerald  hillside;  with 
song  of  early  bird  and  hum  of  bee  ;  with  its  violet  and 
its  snowdrop.  The  squirrel  has  left  his  log  house,  and  the 
swallow  his  mud  cabin  by  the  brook,  and  gone  forth  to 
cater  for  existence.  The  sick  man  and  the  sad  child  have 
left  the  old  field-house  and  gone  forth  to  meet  the  world 
and  battle  in  the  unequal  contest.  They  are  located  in 
the  village;  their  friend  has  come  nobly  to  her  promise, 
and  not  a  house  in  all  the  neighborhood  but  has  been 
visited  in  quest  of  patronage  for  the  young  teacher,  and 
there  she  sits,  surrounded  by  a  group  of  little,  happy, 
rosy  faces.  She  has  received  orders,  too,  for  needlework, 
more  than   she  can  fill.     The  day  she   divides  between 


84  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

labor  with  her  pupils  and  attendance  upon  her  father ;  and 
when  evening  shadows  curtain  the  earth,  when  the  lowing 
of  the  ox  and  the  bleating  of  the  sheep  are  no  longer 
heard  upon  the  hill,  when  the  bird  folds  its  wing  and 
sleeps  peacefully  upon  the  bough,  when  even  the  indus- 
trious little  bee  retires  to  its  sweet  home  to  rest,  Mattie 
commences  anew  to  labor.  She  draws  patterns  of  grace- 
ful and  beautiful  design,  which,  with  her  needle,  she  em- 
bodies into  form.  Patiently,  lonely,  she  toils  on,  until  the 
weary  hours  of  darkness  grow  small  and  then  grow  large 
again.  "  But  what  of  that,"  she  thinks,  "if  I  may  but 
shield  my  father  from  want  and  obey  my  mother's  dying 
injunction — take  care  of  him  ?" 

It  was  astonishing  to  all  how  successful  Mattie  was  as 
a  teacher.  Notwithstanding  her  extreme  youth,  she  man- 
aged her  school  with  the  utmost  facility  —  and  why? 
She  ruled  by  love,  and  unassumingly.  She  made  no 
distinction  among  her  charge  because  of  the  adventitious 
circumstances  of  wealth  and  position.  The  poor  laborer's 
little  sunbeam,  and  the  wealthy  landlord's  pride,  were 
alike  to  her;  hence  respect  preceded  esteem.  Baskets  of 
the  finest  fruits,  and  bunches  of  the  sweetest  flowers,  were 
daily  laid  at  her  shrine,  evidences,  these,  of  the  idolatry 
of  the  little,  loving,  trusting,  grateful  hearts  by  which  she 
was  surrounded. 

Though  her  labor  was  protracted  through  the  day  and 
night,  her  income  was  extremely  small, — so  small,  indeed, 
that  months  had  elapsed  ere  she  could  afford  to  purchase 
for  herself  a  shilling  mourning-dress  to  wear  in  honor  of 
her  dear  departed  mother.  But,  for  all  her  labor  and  for 
nil  her  poverty,  Mattie  was  not  miserable;  no  heart  can  be 
completely  wretched  that  is  prompted  to  exertion  by  a  high 
incentive,  it  was  remarked  that  Mattie's  love  and  solici- 
tude for  her  father  grew  stronger  as  his  helplessness  in- 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  85 

creased.  His  nervous  system  had  been  shattered  beyond 
repair:  the  prostration  now  culminated,  like  the  snapping 
of  a  string  which  leaves  the  instrument  useless.  The  vul- 
ture Remorse,  that  constantly  preyed  upon  his  heart,  aided 
this  lamentable  consummation,  and  paralysis,  that  affected 
both  mind  and  body,  supervened.  Noble-hearted,  self- 
sacrificing'  Mattie!  many  long  years  of  wearing  toil  and 
crushing  heart-throbs  are  before  thee.  May  the  God  of 
thy  mother,  in  whom  thou  trustest  with  such  childlike 
simplicity,  help  thee  through! 

And  yet  another  blow  is  about  to  fall  upon  the  child's 
defenseless  head.  An  almost  breathless  messenger  rushes 
into  her  presence  with  the  news  that  her  generous  patron- 
ess, her  sweet  counselor,  her  almost  second  mother,  is 
stricken  with  disease,  and  now  lies  hopelessly  at  the  point 
of  death.  Frantic  with  apprehension,  the  grateful  girl 
flew  to  the  bedside  of  her  dying  friend,  and  with  con- 
vulsive agony  kissed  from  her  clammy  lips  the  last  faint 
gurgling  breath. 

A  contagious  disease  had  broken  out  among  Mrs. 
Allston's  servants,  and  she,  more  anxious  for  their  com- 
fort than  her  own  safety,  risked  her  life  rather  than  that 
they  should  be  neglected,  and  thus  she  fell  a  victim  to  the 
generous  impulses  of  her  noble  nature.  And  now  she  is 
laid  in  the  earth  by  the  side  of  Mattie's  mother  ;  together 
the  child's  two  best  friends  repose,  their  much-loved  dust 
mingling. 

Would  that  we  had  to  give  to  this  woman  of  pure  and 
holy  life  a  more  poetical  death  1  would  that,  instead  of 
plague-spot  and  delirious  raving,  she  could  have  calmly 
sighed  out  her  breath,  redolent  with  prayer,  amid  the  sweet 
flowers,  the  green  woods,  the  blue  sky,  with  the  eagle 
hovering  o'er  to  bear  her  noble  soul  aloft!     Such  was  the 


86  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

death  of  D'Israeli's  Nicseus,  than  which  a  more  poetical 
was  never  penned. 

BilFs  home  has  no  charm  for  him,  now  that  his  mother 
is  gone.  His  guardian  wishes  him  to  go  North  to  complete 
his  education  and  improve  his  health.  Bill  is  delighted 
with  the  proposal,  and  comes  to  tell  Mattie  the  news,  and 
bid  her  farewell  1 

"  Mattie,"  said  he,  "  I  am  going  away,  perhaps  forever, 
certainly  for  years,  because,  after  leaving  college,  I  intend 
to  travel,  I  intend  to  visit  lands  whose  artistic  achieve- 
ments shall  both  inspire  and  teach  me ;  and  I  will  sell 
every  foot  of  land  I  possess,  but  that  I  will  be  master  of 
the  art  that  is  mistress  of  my  heart,  for  now  that  my 
mother  is  gone  I  have  nothing  to  love  but  my  pencil." 

Mattie  replied,  somewhat  anxiously,  "  Why,  Bill,  surely 
you  will  not  sell  your  mother's  grave?" 

"Oh,  no  !  no  !"  he  replied,  quickly,  and  coloring  deeply, 
"certainly  not  !  I  will  not  sell  the  home-place,  on  which 
is  the  family  graveyard,  where  your  mother  and  mine  are 
buried  side  by  side ;  but  if  it  be  necessary  I  will  part  with 
everything  else  to  secure  that,  the  love  of  which  burns 
into  my  very  bones !  And  now,  Mattie,  as  we  may  never 
see  each  other  again,  I  want  to  take  your  likeness.  A 
rough  draft  I  know  it  will  be,  but  I  will  finish  it  up  as  I 
improve  in  the  profession.  Your  look  in  childhood  will 
serve  as  a  link  in  memory's  chain  to  bind  me  to  my  boy- 
hood's days  and  (however  I  may  roam)  to  the  scenes  and 
associations  of  my  early  home.  1  always  intended  to 
paint  my  mother's  likeness;  but,  oh,  the  danger  of  delay! 
— what  would  1  not  give  to  have  it  now?  But  I  will  paint 
it  yet  :  every  line  of  her  sweet  face  is  engraved  upon  my 
heart,  and  when  1  am  the  painter  I  intend  to  be,  I  shall 
paint  her  as  she  was*     The  picture  may  appear  ideal  to 


Oft   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  8t 

those  who  did  not  look  upon  her  with  my  eyes;  I  care  not; 
I  shall  paint  her  as  she  looked  to  me  !" 

"And  as  she  looked  to  me,  too,"  said  Mattie ;  "for  your 
mother  always  appeared  in  my  eyes  to  be  the  twin-angel 
of  my  own  dear  loved  aud  lost ;  and  now  I  am  again 
motherless.  Oh,  Bill  1  what  will  become  of  me,  without  a 
friend  on  earth  ?" 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

A   NEW   ACQUAINTANCE. 

u  Oh,  fear  not  in  a  world  like  this, 
And  thou  shalt  know,  ere  long, 
Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is 
To  suffer  and  be  strong." 

Mattie's  life  is  laborious  and  lonesome  enough,  now  that 
the  friends  who  were  strength  to  her  timid  heart  are  gone. 
She  is  alone.  Alone  I — none  can  tell  the  agony  that  word 
conveys  but  those  who  have  felt  its  meaning.  Amid  all 
her  afflictions,  however,  there  is  mercifully  dispensed  to  her 
one  blessing — a  faithful  servant.  Let  faithful  Nannie's  praise 
be  sung  wherever  these  pages  open  to  the  light.  She  was 
an  Irishwoman,  warm-hearted  aud  true  as  ever  came  from 
that  soil  made  worthy  by  the  whole-souled  generosity, 
by  the  nobility  of  nature,  to  which  it  gives  birth.  When 
Mattie  was  engaged  in  school,  Nannie  supplied  her  place 
by  the  bedside  of  her  father,  and  thus  relieved  the  mind  of 
the  child  from  an  anxiety  that  would  otherwise  have  been 
crushing. 

Mrs.  Allston's  death  left  a  void  in  Mattie's  circle  that  no 
society  in  the  neighborhood  could  supply  ;  and,  oh,  how  her 
heart  yearned  for  the  companionship  of  books  !     "If  I  had 


88  DOIXGS  IX  MARYLAND, 

but  a  pleasant  book  with  which  to  refresh  my  spirit  when 
I  am  weary,  how  thankful  I  would  be!"'  This  thought  the 
child  often  sighed  to  the  winds  ;  but  she  had  now  no  friendly 
ear  into  which  to  pour  her  complaint.  Happily  for  her,  the 
few  books  she  had  read  were  of  a  superior  standard,  and 
thus  the  foundation  of  her  literary  taste  was  laid  in  strength 
and  correct  moral  sentiments.  Everything  to  youth  are 
the  books  they  read  first.  Mrs.  Douglas  was  aware  of  tins 
fact;  and  when  her  husband's  valuable  library  was  sold,  by 
the  aid  of  a  neighbor  she  rescued  from  the  general  sweep  a 
few  choice  volumes  which  she  knew  had  been  favorites  with 
him  in  days  long  past  and  would  be  valuable  in  forming  the 
mind  and  character  of  her  daughter.  These  volumes  Mattie 
bad  read  until  their  contents  were  memorized  ;  and  now 
she  pined  for  something  new  to  read,  something  to  divert 
her  mind  from  its  daily  drudgery. 

As  she  sat  in  her  school  one  morning,  surrounded  by  her 
little  charge,  a  visitor  was  announced.  Mrs.  Butterfield 
bustled  in  and  introduced  herself.  "  I  have  taken  the  liberty, 
Miss  Douglas,"  she  said,  "  to  call  upon  you  and  invite  you 
to  visit  a  lady  who  is  staying  at  our  house  ;  she  is  a 
teacher  from  the  city,  and  has  come  out  at  the  suggestion 
of  her  physician  to  recruit  her  health.  She  wishes  to  meet 
the  society  of  the  neighborhood,  and  especially  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  village  teacher." 

Mattie  was  alarmed,  and  began  to  beg  off.  "  Oh,  Mrs. 
Butterfield,"  she  said,  "  you  know  I  am  such  a  recluse  and 
have  seen  so  little  of  society,  and  shall  appear  to  such  dis- 
advantage by  the  side  of  the  elegant  city  teacher,  that  you 
will  be  ashamed  of  me  yourself.  You  had  better  not  pre- 
sent me." 

"Oh,  never  fear!"  cried  Mrs.  Butterfield,  courageously  ; 
"you  can  do  as  well  as  any  of  them,  if  you  will  only  put 
it  on.      Bui  you   keep  yourself  back  too  much.      Mrs.  All- 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  S9 

stem  told  me  you  wore  as  bright  a  girl  as  could  be  found ;  and 
she  ought  to  know,  because  she  was  always  used  to  grand 
society.     So  now  you  just  put  it  on  and  come  along." 

By  putting  on,  Mattie  understood  her  visitor  to  mean 
assuming,  and  she  replied,  "Why,  Mrs.  Butterfield,  you 
would  not  respect  me  yourself  if  I  should  assume  what  is 
not  my  due,  and  set  myself  up  with  womanly  airs." 

11  Well,  never  mind,  but  come  anyhow,  and  get  acquainted 
with  the  lady,  for  I  expect  she  is  a  wonderfully  smart 
one ;  she  has  a  prodigious  sight  of  books ;  but  the  doctor 
says  she  must  not  read,  only  chase  butterflies,  and  ride  on 
horseback,  and  swing,  and  do  all  sorts  of  romping  things ; 
and  so  you  see  she  wants  a  young  girl  to  be  company  for 
her." 

At  mention  of  the  books,  Mattie's  eyes  dilated  ;  she 
exclaimed,  clasping  her  hands,  "  Oh,  will  she  let  me  read 
some  of  her  books?  I  will  run  the  risk  of  appearing  a 
bumpkin,  if  she  will  only  let  me  read  her  books!" 

Mrs.  Butterfield  had  found  the  key  to  Mattie's  heart ; 
she  at  once  opened  the  door.  "  Come,"  she  said,  "and  I 
promise  the  books." 

As  soon  as  school  was  dismissed,  Mattie  donned  the 
shilling  black,  and,  with  a  bounding  heart,  set  off" to  make 
her  first  visit  of  ceremony. 

Miss  Bip,  the  city  teacher,  angular  in  appearance,  with 
eye-glass  raised,  received  the  village  maiden  in  her  best 
style,  evidently  intending  to  strike  the  country  girl  with 
astonishment ;  but  she  was  rather  taken  aback  after  all, 
for,  although  Mattie  did  not  "  put  on,"  as  Mrs.  Butterfield 
advised,  yet  her  manners  were  so  natively  refined  without 
being  in  the  least  conventional,  her  bearing  so  dignified 
from  very  timidity,  that  Miss  Bip  was  surprised,  and  eyed 
her  as  curiously  as  if  she  had  beeu  a  foreign  importation 
on  exhibition. 

8* 


90  DOING S   IX  MARYLAND, 

"You  are  young  for  the  profession,"  said  Miss  Bip. 

"My  mother  intended  me  for  a  teacher,  but  circum- 
stances compelled  me  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  office 
much  soqjier  than  I  had  anticipated,"  replied  the  youthful 
instructress. 

"How  do  you  like  teaching*?"  inquired  Miss  Bip. 

"I  would  like  it  much  better  if  I  had  more  advanced 
pupils.  I  have  only  a  little  reading  and  spelling  to  teach, 
and  then  my  pupils- are  so  small!  I  can  teach  arithmetic, 
and  grammar,  and  composition,  but  I  have  no  opportunity  to 
show  all  that  I  can  teach,  because  the  children  are  so  small." 

"  Why  don't  you  go  to  the  city,  then  ?  You  could  get 
larger  pupils  there,"  said  Miss  Bip. 

The  suggestion  flashed  upon  Mattie's  mind  like  a  reve- 
lation from  heaven.  She  seemed  lost  m  thought  for  some 
time,  and  then  replied, — 

"I  confess  I  never  thought  of  that  before.  I  thank  you 
for  mentioning  it,  as  I  expect  there  are  plenty  of  books  in 
the  city." 

"  Books!"  echoed  Miss  Bip,  with  a  shriek  ;  "why,  child, 
you  could  read  all  the  books  in  creation  for  five  dollars  a 
year,  by  just  taking  a  ticket  in  a  public  library" 

"  0 — h  !"  said  Mattie,  in  undisguised  astonishment. 

"Besides,"  continued  Miss  Bip,  "you  could  perhaps 
obtain  medical  aid,  which  would  restore  your  father's 
health." 

The  child,  bewildered  by  the  presentation  of  so  many 
new  and  desirable  objects,  sat  like  one  who  had  been 
in  an  instant  petrified  ;  or  perhaps  only  struck  dumb,  like 
Zach arias,  by  a  heavenly  visitor. 

"  Could  such  things  be  ?  Why  had  Mrs.  Allston  never 
mentioned  them?  why  bad  she  herself  never  thought  of 
thorn?"  Such  were  the  fluctuating  thoughts  that  passed 
afld  repassed  through  this  young  and  inexperienced  mind. 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  91 

"  What  books  would  you  like  to  read,  and  what  have 
von  read?''  asked  Miss  Bip. 

"  I  have  read  the  English  Classics, — Johnson,  Milton, 

Young,  Goldsmith "     She  was  progressing  with  the 

list,   when  her  interlocutor  interrupted  her,  by  exclaim- 
ing,— 

"  Good  gracious!  why,  you  arc  a  perfect  antediluvian  ! 
nobody  reads  those  musty  old  fogies  these  days ;  they  are 
long  since  laid  upon  the  shelf.  I  have  heard  that  there 
were  such  books  in  the  world,  but  I  would  not  read  them, 
for  fear  of  being  laughed  at." 

"Excuse  me,  miss,"  said  Mattie,  coloring  deeply,  "but 
my  father  says  those  authors  will  never  be  disregarded  or 
forgotten  so  long  as  the  English  language  is  spoken  or 
read." 

"  Your  father  has  not  mingled  much  in  society  lately,  I 
suspect,  and  consequently  he  has  not  learned  to  supersede 
his  antique  notions  with  the  modern  and  graceful  impres- 
sions of  the  present  golden  age  of  literature.  I  hope,  for 
your  sake,  however,  that  you  will  go  to  live  in  the  city, 
and  then  you  will  get  rid  of  your  old-fashioned  notions 
about  books,  and  your  old-fashioned  dress,  too,  for  I  see 
yours  is  made  in  the  style  that  was  worn  when 'my  mother 
was  a  child.  How  exceeding  savage  are  the  tendencies  of 
habitual  country  life!  I  do  really  expect  that  country- 
people  would  turn  Indians  again,  and  wear  blankets,  if  it 
were  not  for  the  fact  that  a  few  reside  in  the  city  during 
the  winter,  and  by  this  means  get  the  rust  rubbed  off  them- 
selves, and  help,  on  their  return,  to  modernize  their  neigh- 
bors." 

Mattie  thought  tin's  flippant  city  lady  very  smart,  but, 
somehow,  so  unlike  Mrs.  Allston. 

Mr.  Butterfield  now  came  in  from  the  farm,  accompanied 
by  the  neighboring  physician,  Dr.  Bramble.     The  doctor 


92  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

was  introduced,  and  immediately  after  tea  was  announced. 
Of  course  the  unexpected  guest  was  requested  to  stay  to 
tea,  and  of  course  he  stayed,  as  what  Southerner  ever  shirks 
hospitality?  He  proved  a  very  agreeable  companion,  and 
showed  himself  well  read  in  all  the  light  literature  of  the 
day.  Miss  Bip  and  himself  were  perfectly  at  home  in 
fashionable  prose  and  poetry,  and  chatted  away  like  chums 
at  school.  The  conversation  turned  from  works  to  their 
authors  ;  the  merits  and  moralities  of  each  were  freely  dis- 
cussed ;  and,  as  the  doctor  had  a  good  opinion  of  his  own 
taste  and  judgment  in  the  matter,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
favor  his  audience  with  a  specimen  of  both.  Said  he, 
"Dickens  is  a  philanthropist,  and  deserves  a  niche  in  the 
temple  that  enshrines  Howard  the  good ;  he  braved  the 
horrors  of  pestilence  and  prison  for  the  sake  of  suffering 
humanity,  and  Dickens,  with  equal  heroism,  descends  into 
the  slough  of  society,  gropes  among  the  vilest  purlieus  of 
pollution,  and  exhibits  to  the  gaping  crowd  a  gem  ex- 
humed from  the  deepest  filth  ;  bears  forth  upon  his  pointed 
steel  a  ray  of  beauty  from  the  darkest  den.  That  he  writes 
from  nature,  no  one  can  doubt,  for  we  need  not  go  a  hun- 
dred miles  to  find  the  counterpart  of  his  Little  Xell  and  her 
grandfather,"  said  the  doctor,  glancing  at  Mattie. 

Her  quick  apprehension  took  in  his  meaning  in  an  instant, 
and  her  face  was  scarlet. 

"And  Bulwer,"  said  Miss  Bip;  "what  do  you  think  of 
Bulwer?" 

"Alas  for  poor  Bulwer  I"  said  the  sympathetic  doctor; 
"  he  has  a  vast  amount  of  sin  to  answer  for;  he  makes  the 
heart  boil  like  a  pot  of  pitch,  and  he  has  made  many  a 
poor  shallow  heart  to  boil  over  until  caldron  and'  con- 
tents were  alike  consumed.  The  foulest  deeds  are  often 
the  engendering  of  imaginations  diseased  and  corrupted 
by  literary  association.     The  pure  page,  just  issued  from 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  93 

the  mill,  could  not  pass  through  the  sewer  unsettled  ; 
neither  can  the  spirit  escape  from  the  effects  of  immersion, 
whether  the  dip  be  oftenest  in  the  waters  of  Siloam  or  in 
the  ink  of  hell !"  The  eloquent  doctor  apostrophized. 
"Great  is  thy  responsibility,  thou  man  of  power;  it  was 
thine  to  have  placed  thy  fellows  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages, 
or,  to  use  one  of  thy  own  figures,  upon  a  Sea  of  Wax,  and 
thou  hast  chosen  the  latter."  Bowing  gallantly  to  Miss 
Bip,  the  doctor  continued:  "A  beautiful  niche  your  own 
sex  deserve  in  the  temple  of  pure  and  lofty  literature,  for 
women  are  among  the  best  pen-painters  of  the  present 
day,  and  in  this  respect  our  country  is  not  behind  the 
world.  However  our  men  may  rank  in  comparison  with 
the  literati  of  other  nations,  our  female  writers  are  not  ex- 
celled, and  therefore  we  are  justly  proud  of  our  own 
Soulhworth,  the  nation's  Fern,  the  world's  Sigourney." 

"Well,  really,  I  am  surprised  to  hear  gentlemen  extol 
Fern,  for  certainly  she  is  severe  upon  your  sex,"  said  Miss 
Bip. 

"I  admit  she  is,"  replied  the  doctor;  "but  when  she 
uses  her  cutting  steel  Jn  defense  of  oppressed  women  and 
helpless  children,  I  pardon  the  passes  she  makes  at  the 
monster  man." 

And  thus  the  affable  doctor  and  the  self-esteemed  city 
lady  discussed  the  various  authors  of  the  day,  quite  pleased 
with  the  subject,  with  themselves,  with  the  richly-spread 
tea-table,  and  just  then  with  all  the  world ;  nor  ever 
dreamed  of  the  volcano  they  were  arousing  in  the  heart  of 
the  silent  child  beside  them.  She  scarcely  dared  to  breathe, 
lest  she  should  lose  a  word  of  the  conversation;  her  heart 
beat  high,  her  cheek  flushed,  her  eyes  sparkled. 

"I  will  go  to  the  city  and  read  those  books!"  was  the 
thought  that  surged  through  her  mind  like  the  advancing 
and  retreating  tide  upon  the  beaten  beach. 


94  DOIXGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHATTER    XIX. 

COGITATION    AND    DREAMING. 

"While  o'er  my  limbs  Sleep's  soft  dominion  spread, 
What  though  my  soul  fantastic  measures  trod 
O'er  fairy  fields,  or  mourned  along  the  gloom 
Of  pathless  woods,  or,  down  the  craggy  steep 
Hurl'd  headlong,  swam  with  pain  the  mantled  pool." 

On  Mattie's  return  home  from  Mrs.  Butterfield's  house, 
she  had  to  pass  a  marsh,  along  the  margin  of  which  grew 
the  fern.  She  plucked  a  leaf,  and,  to  conceal  it  from  those 
who  accompanied  her,  put  it  in  her  bosom.  "  They  would 
call  me  silly,"  she  thought;  "  I  would  not  let  them  see  it 
for  the  world."  Arrived  at  home,  and  learning  from  Nan- 
nie that  her  father  was  sleeping  sweetly  and  had  not 
missed  her,  Mattie  retired  to  her  chamber  to  think  and 
dream.  The  remarks  of  Miss  Bip,  as  to  the  advantages 
of  city  life,  had  sunk  deep  into  the  heart  of  the  perplexed 
child,  and  opened  a  new  vista  to  her  inexperienced  vision. 
She  seated  herself  on  the  side  of  her  little  bed,  and, 
clasping  her  hands  involuntarily  in  an  attitude  of  prayer, 
began  to  muse.  "If  I  could  but  go  to  that  far-oil"  city, 
near  to  which  rolls  the  majestic  ocean,  and  nearer  still  the 
noble  bay,  and  through  which  pours  a  tide  of  knowledge 
while  I  perish  here  for  want  of  the  precious  draught,  how 
happy  I  would  be!  Oh,  I  would  be  willing  to  endure 
privation  and  labor,  if  I  could  get  but  books  and  learn- 
ing !  If  I  only  knew  some  person  to  whom  I  could 
apply  for  advice  and  direction,  I  would  go  at  once;  but  I 
know  no  one  in  all  that  vast  multitude,  except  the  Gilts, 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  95 

and  I  know  very  little  of  them,  only  I  know  they  owe  my 
father  money,  or  an  obligation  of  some  kind,  and  surely 
they  might  assist  me  with  their  influence.  They  are  rich  ; 
I  suppose  they  have  influence.  I  don't  want  their  money, 
I  only  want  work  and  books.  Oh,  I  wish  I  could  read 
about  Little  Nell  and  her  grandfather."  At  this  stage  of 
Mattie's  musing  she  became  extremely  perturbed,  her  face 
flushed,  her  heart  fluttered;  the  thought  of  being  com- 
pared, if,  indeed,  only  by  implication,  with  the  heroine  of 
a  book,  was  almost  suffocating.  Her  thoughts  still  flowed. 
"  I  wonder  why  that  Fanny  Fern  calls  her  writings  'Fern 
Leaves'?"  She  drew  from  her  bosom  the  leaf  gathered 
by  the  roadside,  and  threw  it  upon  her  pillow.  "  Dr. 
Bramble  says  Fanny  Fern  writes  in  defense  of  oppressed 
women  and  helpless  children.  Well,  God  bless  her,  then, 
if  she  does." 

The  dispirited  child,  wearied  by  so  many  new  and 
tangled  thoughts,  laid  herself  upon  her  little  couch  and 
pressed  her  pure  cheek  upon  the  fresh  fern  leaf. 

The  Gilts  alluded  to  in  Mattie's  soliloquy  were  a  family 
whom  she  had  once  visited  in  company  with  her  mother. 
They  lived  in  the  most  ostentatious  style,  and  of  course 
moved  in  fashionable  society  ;  but  there  was  a  something 
in  their  history  that  would  not  bear  the  light,  and  it  was 
from  this  mysterious  something  that  arose  the  Douglas 
connection.  Mattie  knew  it  to  be  a  money  transaction, 
but  under  what  circumstances  they  had  become  debtors 
to  her  father  she  had  not  then  heard,  or  why  such  grand 
and  evidently  wealthy  emulators  of  gentility  should  refuse 
a  just  demand.  Mattie  had  heard  her  mother  allude  to 
the  subject  once  in  conversation  with  her  father;  the  bare 
mention  seemed  to  frenzy  him  ;  he  rushed  from  the  house 
and  did  not  return  for  weeks.  After  that  Mrs.  Douglas 
never  named  it  more,  but  buried  the  secret,  whatever  it 


96  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

was,  in  her  own  murdered  heart.  It  was  previous  to  this 
conversation  that  Mattie  with  her  mother  called  upou 
Mrs.  Gilt,  who  received  them  very  graciously  ;  but  it  was 
evident  to  even  the  child's  perceptions  that  the  object  of 
the  visit  was  not  accomplished,  for  her  mother  left  the 
house  in  tears  and  sighed  all  the  journey  home. 

As  Mattie  irresistibly  sank  into  a  sleep  compelled  by 
health  and  youth  and  exercise,  strange  fancies  floated 
through  her  brain.  She  had  set  out  for  the  city,  she 
thought,  and  was  lost  in  the  woods.  Night  came  on,  and 
she  took  shelter  in  a  cave,  where,  to  her  astonishment, 
she  found  her  father,  who  had  come  to  look  for  her  and 
lost  himself.  Then,  in  imagination,  she  was  transported 
to  the  bank  of  a  stream  upon  whose  bosom  cities  floated 
by  like  steamboats  in  a  race.  "I'll  risk  it,  or  perish," 
thought  the  resolute  girl  ;  and  with  a  single  bound  she 
gained  a  city  that  was  flying  past.  A  man  approached 
to  sell  her  books ;  he  offered  all  the  literature  of  the 
age  for  a  dollar,  which  she  did  not  possess.  Being  un- 
willing to  miss  the  books,  she  asked  the  man  if  he  would 
take  a  cow  for  them,  and,  he  consenting,  she  returned  home 
for  the  cow.  The  creature  submitted  to  be  driven  along 
quietly  enough  until  she  came  to  the  top  of  a  huge  stair- 
case, which  Mattie  thought  must  be  the  library  of  which 
Miss  Bip  had  spoken,  when,  suddenly  turning  upon  her 
pursuer,  the  enraged  brute  began  to  complain  of  ingrati- 
tude. 

Said  the  cow,  "Have  I  not  sustained  your  family,  lo, 
these  many  years,  and  fed  you  from  my  blood  when  I 
had  nothing  in  my  bowels  ?  And  now  you  are  going  to 
give  me  away  for  a  few  seraps  of  paper  which  no  one  can 
either  eat  or  drink."  And  here  she  made  a  furious  onset 
with  her  horns,  and  pushed  Mattie  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom  of   the  stairs.     The  troubled  sleeper  awoke  with 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  97 

the  fright,  and  so  vivid  was  the  sense  of  danger  that  she 
actually  felt  her  limbs  to  ascertain  their  sound  condition. 
Mrs.  Butterfield's  cake  was  too  rich  for  Mattie's  stomach, 
unaccustomed  to  such  dainties.  Again  she  slept;  and 
again  she  dreamed.  This  time  she  thought  Mrs.  Gilt  was 
transformed  into  a  pitch-fork,  and  the  fork  taking  her — 
Mattie — upon  its  prongs,  threw  her  to  the  top  of  a  pile  of 
books  as  high  as  a  tree,  from  which  she  came  rolling, 
thumping,  bumping,  splashing  into  a  stagnant  pool  that 
lay  in  filthy,  fetid  green  at  the  base. 

She  arose  from  her  troubled  sleep  in  the  morning  but 
little  refreshed,  and  somewhat  discouraged  by  the  horrors 
of  the  night;  but  when  fresh  air  and  cheerful  sunshine  had 
dissipated  the  nightmare,  the  longing  for  books  returned 
with  even  greater  force,  and  increased  until  it  became  an 
appetite  that  would  take  no  denial ;  and  the  poor  little 
lonely  heart  cried,  "  Oh,  if  I  had  some  one  to  go  with  me 
to  that  wonderful  city  where  everything  is  to  be  had, — 
doctors,  books,  companionship,  everything  that  I  want 
and  cannot  get!"  Miss  Bip  had  promised  to  return  Mat- 
tie's  call,  and  she  now  anxiously  awaited  the  expected 
visit,  intending  to  consult  the  city  lady  on  city  matters; 
but,  alas  for  human  hopes,  instead  of  the  visitor  came  the 
news  that  she  had  returned  home  without  so  much  as  a 
word  of  parting  salutation.  Again  thrown  back  upon 
herself,  with  none  to  make  a  suggestion  for  the  future, 
Mattie  was  like  a  ship  becalmed,  without  either  wind  or 
steam ;  and  though  Miss  Bip  was  not  much  better  than  a 
broken  oar,  yet  even  that  had  floated  beyond  her  reach. 
But  the  girl's  feelings  had  reached  a  climax,  and  now  came 
the  stern  resolve  of  self-help. 

"  I  shall  go  to  the  city  and  seek  out  the  Gilts.  Perhaps 
they  will  not  ridicule  my  old-fashioned  dress,  as  Miss  Bip 

9 


98  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

did,  and,  if  they  do,  I  don't  care,  so  that  I  can  get  help  for 
my  suffering  father  and  books  for  myself." 

Making  an  arrangement  with  her  pupils,  and  enjoining 
upon  Nannie  to  be,  if  possible,  still  more  faithful  in  her 
absence,  the  young  pilgrim  took  up  her  lean  carpet-bag 
and  walked  to  the  cars  that  should  convey  her  to  the — as 
she  thought — city  of  refuge. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE   GILTS. 

"In  the  flash  of  her  glance  were  passion  and  pride, 

In  the  curve  of  her  lip  there  was  haughty  contempt, 
As  she  spoke  of  the  power  to  riches  allied, 

Of  the  evils  and  painB  from  which  she  was  exempt." 

The  Gilts  were  a  stylish  family;  they  lived  in  a  stylish 
house  in  a  stylish  part  of  the  city,  the  widow  Gilt  and 
her  two  stylish  daughters. 

Mattie  arrived  at  their  stylish  residence,  carpet-bag  in 
hand,  dressed  in  her  shilling  mourning  dress,  with  sun- 
bonnet  of  the  same  material,  and,  ringing  the  front-door 
bell,  inquired  if  Mrs.  Gilt  was  at  home.  The  door-ser- 
vant, supposing  her  to  be  a  person  in  quest  either  of  em- 
ployment or  charity,  turned  upon  her  an  angry  scowl  for 
ringing  the  bell  with  so  much  confidence,  and  had  a  mind 
to  send  her  to  the  alley  for  entrance;  however,  she  did 
not,  but  sullenly  commanded  her  to  stand  in  the  hall  until 
she  should  sec  if  her  mistress  chose  to  hi'  at  home. 

"  Madam,"  said  the  servant,  "  there  is  a  person  here  who 
asks  to  see  you.  I  think  she  wants  to  hire,  or  else  she  is 
begging." 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  99 

"In  either  case  I  don't  wish  to  see  her;  send  her  off," 
said  the  mistress. 

The  servant  returned  to  Mattie  and  informed  her  that 
Mrs.  Gilt  was  engaged,  and  did  not  wish  to  be  interrupted. 

Mattie  made  no  reply,  but,  drawing  from  her  pocket  an 
old-fashioned  silver  card-case,  took  from  it  a  slip  of  paper, 
and,  writing  her  name  upon  it,  directed  the  servant  to  hand 
it  to  her  mistress. 

Mrs.  Gilt  glanced  at  the  name,  and  screamed  out,  "  Why, 
as  I  live,  it  is  Matilda  Douglas!  You  stupid  goose,  you 
said  it  was  a  beggar  !"  And,  flying  into  the  hall,  she 
overwhelmed  Mattie  with  a  profusion  of  apologies. 

That  such  stylish  people  as  the  Gilts  should  have  such 
plain  acquaintances  as  this  girl  with  carpet-bag  in  hand, 
was  a  great  mystery  to  the  door-servant. 

Said  Miss  Belinda,  the  elder  of  the  stylish  daughters, 
"Now,  ma,  for  Heaven's  sake,  don't  bring  that  ill-dressed 
girl  into  the  parlor  this  evening,  for  I  looked  into  her  car- 
pet-bag, and  she  has  not  even  a  change  of  dress;  and  some 
of  the  most  fashionable  of  our  acquaintances — the  Grand- 
spirts  and  the  Spangles — will  be  here,  and  we  would  cer- 
tainly lose  caste  were  we  to  present  such  people  as  she." 

"  Take  care,  Belinda,"  said  the  mother  :  "  you  know  there 
is  danger  in  this  case.  That  girl  could  ruin  us.  You  had 
better  treat  her  politely,  and  not  irritate  her,  or  she  may 
give  to  the  wind  the  charge  her  father  has  against  us,  and, 
whether  true  or  false,  the  bare  mention  of  such  a  story,  in 
connection  with  our  name,  would  forever  banish  us  from 
society." 

"  I  hate  her  !"  passionately  exclaimed  Miss  Belinda,  "  for, 
although  she  dresses  no  better  than  a  servant,  she  bows 
like  a  princess,  and  is  as  grand  in  her  manners  as  a  queen." 

Said  Caroline,  who  took  delight  in  teasing  her  ill-natured 
sister,  "  I  believe  you  are  afraid  to  compete  with  her  in  the 


100  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

parlor.  I  intend  to  dress  her  up  in  nw  black  moire-antique, 
and  present  her.  I  hope  she  will  catch  Frank  Grandspirt, 
and  cut  you  out." 

Said  Mrs.  Gilt,  "As  to  her  manners,  she  inherits  them 
from  her  mother,  and,  to  do  the  child  justice,  I  really  don't 
think  she  is  conscious  of  her  elegant  and  high-bred  bearing; 
but  you  need  not  fear  a  rival  in  her;  I  shall  keep  her  close 
enough,  while  she  remains.  I  wonder  what  on  earth  has 
brought  her  to  the  city,  anyhow  ?  It  cannot  be  to  injure 
us,  or  she  would  not  have  sought  our  hospitality." 

After  tea  Mrs.  Gilt  said  to  Mattie,  in  her  sweetest  man- 
ner, "My  dear,  your  mourning  is  too  deep  for  fashionable 
society;  you  and  I  will  spend  the  evening  together,  when 
we  can  have  a  nice  chat,  all  to  ourselves."  And,  taking  the 
child  by  the  hand,  the  fashionable  lady  led  the  way  to  her 
own  chamber.  Mattie  Was  not  entirely  deceived;  she  felt 
that  it  was  rather  the  shabbiness  of  her  mourning,  than 
its  depth,  which  caused  her  rejection  from  the  parlor;  but 
being  weary  with  travel,  and  heart-sick  with  the  scornful 
airs  of  Miss  Belinda,  she  thankfully  accepted  the  oifer  of 
spending  the  evening  in  retirement.  So  great  was  Mrs. 
Gilt's  anxiety  to  know  Mattie's  object  in  visiting  the  city, 
that  she  could  scarcely  restrain  herself  from  betraying  the 
most  vulgar  curiosity,  and  seized  the  first  opportunity  to 
put  to  her  a  series  of  worm-it-out  questions. 

"  How  could  you,  my  dear,  make  up  your  mind  to  leave 
your  father,  in  his  helpless  condition,  ami  to  the  care  of 
servants  only,  when  he  is  scarcely  able  to  tell  whether  he 
is  properly  treated  or  not'/"  inquired  the  bland  lady  of 
fasti  ion. 

"  I  have  cvi^-y  confidence  in  Nannie,"  replied  Mattie- 
"and  the  case  is  urgent.  I  am  extremely  anxious  to  ac- 
complish the  object  of  my  visit  to  the  city." 

"  Tray,  may  1  ask  what  is  your  object,  my  dear  ?" 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  101 

"  It  is  to  obtain  a  school." 

"A  school  I" 

"Yes,  ma'am;  the  one  I  teach  is  not  remunerative,  and 
I  wish  to  live  in  the  city,  on  account  of  books,  and  the 
means  of  completing  my  own  education:  besides,  some 
persons  think  perhaps  my  father  could  obtain  medical  aid, 
which  would  restore  him  to  health.  For  these  various 
reasons  I  am  anxious  to  live  in  the  city,  and  I  came  to  you, 
thinking'  that  a  lady  of  your  position  and  influence  might 
assist  me  in  obtaining  pupils,  or  at  least  you  would  advise 
me  for  the  best." 

Mrs.  Gilt  looked  sharply  at  Mattie  when  she  called  her 
a  lady  of  position  and  influence,  but,  finding  no  sign  of 
satire  or  irony  on  her  countenance,  the  child's  manner 
being  perfectly  earnest,  honest,  and  truthful,  she  proceeded 
to  answer. 

"  My  dear,  you  are  taking  too  much  upon  yourself;  you 
have  no  idea  of  the  difficulties  you  will  have  to  encounter, 
in  all  you  propose.  You  cannot  get  pupils  from  the  circle 
in  which  I  move,  unless  you  go  to  them  as  a  governess." 

"That  I  cannot  do,"  said  Mattie,  quickly,  "because  I 
cannot  leave  my  father.'" 

"  You  see,  then,  dear  child,  how  impossible  it  is  for  me 
to  assist  you,  because  the  children  of  the  high  class,  with 
whom  I  associate,  all  go  to  fashionable  schools,  except 
such  small  ones  as  are  taught  at  home  ;  and  it  is  the  cus- 
tom of  society  to  disregard  those  who  are  struggling, 
and  to  patronize  such  as  are  already  replete  with  patron- 
age;  therefore  you  must  have  prestige  in  the  world  of 
teachers,  or  you  could  not  get  a  single  pupil  among  wealthy 
people." 

"Perhaps  I  could  get  them  among  poor  people,  then?  ' 
said  the  anxious  inquirer. 

"  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  poor  class,"  replied  the 
9* 


102  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

lady  of  fashion,  contemptuously ;  "but  I  ascertain  from 
the  newspapers  that  poor  children  all  go  to  the  public 
schools,  and  they  are  supported  by  the  city.  That,  of 
course,  shuts  you  out  from  patronage  in  that  quarter,  as 
poor  people  must  regard  cheapness  in  education,  as  in 
everything  else,  a  primary  requisite." 

"  Could  I  not  get  a  situation  in  the  city  schools,  then  ?" 
said  the  eager  candidate.  "  I  would  try  very  hard  to 
please." 

"  You  could  not,  without  very  decided  help  from  a  prom- 
inent politician,  or  the  friends  of  politicians,  and,  as  you  are 
a  stranger,  without  influence  in  the  political  world,  you 
could  not  get  a  single  vote,  though  I  am  entirely  convinced 
of  your  ability  to  fill  such  a  position.  Your  mother  was 
a  woman  of  fine  education,  and  I  am  certain  she  has  not 
neglected  yours.  My  advice  to  you,  then,  is  to  remain  in 
the  country,  and  get  along  the  best  you  can,  for  the  pres- 
ent, and  should  I  hear  of  anything  that  would  benefit  you, 
I  will  let  }rou  know." 

Poor  Mattie's  heart  sank  within  her  at  sight  of  the 
picture  presented  by  Mrs.  Gilt.  Just  then  the  rich  tones 
of  the  piano,  accompanied  by  a  sweet 'voice  from  the  far- 
off  parlor,  fell  upon  her  ear,  and  old  familiar  strains  brought 
back  memories  of  the  sweet,  sad  voice  of  her  dear  departed 
mother.  M attic  could  hear  no  more,  and  requested  permis- 
sion to  retire  for  the  night.  The  request  was  readily 
granted,  and  she  was  shown  into  a  chamber  almost  Oriental 
in  its  splendor.  She  surveyed  the  luxurious  comfort  of 
the  place,  and  could  not  help  contrasting  it  with  the  poor 
cottage-chamber  in  which  her  father  was  laid;  and  yet  his 
money  had  purchased  all  this, — money,  too,  that  had  been 
fraudulently  obtained,  and  the  GHltS  knew  it;  though  they 
refused  to  assist  the  child  to  earn  a  crust  for  herself  and 
the  defrauded  man.     They  feared  to  let  her  breathe  the 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  103 

same  atmosphere  with  themselves,  lost  she  might  taint  it 
with  a  word  of  truth. 

When  Mattie  was  disposed  of  for  the  night,  Mrs.  Gilt 
dressed  and  went  into  the  parlor, — excusing'  her  late  ap- 
pearance by  saying  "she  had  been  in  attendance  upon  a 
sick  servant,  for  whose  life  she  was  apprehensive."  When 
the  company  had  retired,  Mrs.  Gilt  hastened  to  inform  her 
daughters  of  Mattie's  object  in  visiting  the  city.  "  She 
wishes  to  get  a  school,"  said  the  mother,  "  and  requests  my 
aid  in  procuring  pupils."    Miss  Belinda  was  up  in  a  moment. 

11 1  hope  to  Heaven,  ma,  you  are  not  so  green  as  to  bring 
that  girl  into  our  set,  or  place  her  in  a  position  where  she 
Can  injure  us  by  repeating  the  story  her  father  chooses  to 
originate  about  mine,  who  is  not  here  to  defend  himself 
and  his  family  from  the  aspersions  of  a  wretch  who  pro- 
fesses to  have  been  his  benefactor." 

"  Of  course  I  shall  not,"  said  the  mother;  "but  how 
are  we  to  get  rid  of  her?  That  is  the  question.  I  am 
afraid  she  will  talk  to  the  servants  about  us;  and  yet  if  I 
bring  her  into  my  room  to  sleep,  she  might  think  I  was 
watching  her,  and  out  of  pure  revenge  set  afloat  the  story 
of  your  father's  misfortunes  in  the  old  country,  our  change 
of  name,  and  all  the  horrid  vicissitudes  of  fortune  that  we 
have  experienced.  I  wish  we  were  rid  of  her  now  and 
forever  I" 

Said  Caroline,  who  really  had  more  principle  than  all 
the  rest  put  together,  "I  don't  believe  she  would  talk  to 
the  servants,  or  out  of  revenge  try  to  injure  us.  I  like  that 
girl ;  and  if  we  owe  her  father  and  herself  anything,  we 
ought  to  pay  it,  because  they  stand  more  in  need  of  it  than 
we  do." 

"It  would  inconvenience  us  to  pay  it,"  said  Mrs.  Gilt, 
glancing  at  Belinda.  "  We  would  have  to  reduce  our  style 
of  living." 


104  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Belinda  blazed,  brought  down  her  hand  with  violence 
upon  the  table,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  would  rather  die  than 
to  descend  one  step  in  the  scale  of  fashionable  life  !  What 
is  life  without  fashion,  and  how  can  fashion  be  upheld 
without  money?  Ma,  whenever  you  decide  to  reduce 
our  style  of  living,  just  let  me  know,  and  I  will  commit 
suicide  and  be  done  with  it ;  for  if  I  can't  marry  Frank 
Grandspirt  I  want  to  die,  and  of  course  the  Grandspirts 
are  not  going  to  marry  into  an  unfashionable  family." 

Said  Caroline,  "I  would  not  rather  die  than  live  un- 
fashionably  ;  I  would  rather  do  justice  than  live  splendidly  ; 
but  I  am  in  the  minority  here,  because  Belinda  is  equal  to 
a  dozen,  and  ma  always  sides  with  Belinda  ;  but  one  thing 
I  will  do,  and  that  is  pay  that  money,  if  it  be  ever  in  my 
power,  and  remove  the  stain  from  my  father's  memory.  " 

Said  Mrs.  Gilt,  emphatically,  "  We  deny  the  debt.  Mr. 
Douglas  tried  to  fasten  the  charge  of  dishonesty  upon 
your  father,  but  we  deny  the  charge." 

"  I  thought,"  said  Caroline,  "my  father  acknowledged  it 
upon  his  death-bed,  and  directed  the  money  to  be  paid." 
Mrs.  Gilt  became  very  red  in  the  face,  and  told  Caroline 
if  ever  she  addressed  such  language  to  her  again  she  would 
banish  her  from  her  presence  forever. 

The  ladies  in  going  to  their  chamber  had  to  pass  the 
one  appropriated  to  Mattie.  "  Let  us  look  in  upon  her," 
said  Belinda,;  "I  expect  she  is  now  in  confab  with  a 
servant."  They  entered.  The  child  was  sleeping  sweetly, 
her  pure  check  resting  upon  her  little  dimpled  hand,  the 
picture  of  unconscious  innocence. 

"I  wish  I  could  burn  her  up  alive,"  said  Belinda,  ad- 
vancing the  night-lamp  to  the  line  drapery  that  surrounded 
the  bed. 

"Are  you  mad  ?"  cried  Caroline,  snatching  the  lamp 
from  her  reckless  sister. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  105 

u  T  would  burn  the  contents  of  the  room  to  get  rid  of  the 
hateful  brat,"  she  said,  in  a  low  and  hissing  voice. 

"  Gome,"  said  the  mother,  "no  more  of  this  nonsense. 
Let  us  go." 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

CHANGE. 

"  Kind  sleep  affords 
The  only  boon  the  wretched  mind  can  feel, 
A  momentary  respite  from  despair." 

The  fashion  and  elegance  of  the  chamber  appropriated 
to  the  young  traveler,  however  such  things  might  solace 
Miss  Belinda,  who,  by  her  own  account,  loved  fashion 
more  than  life,  brought  no  joy  to  Mattie's  troubled  spirit. 
Yet  not  a  pang  of  envy  crossed  her  breast;  she  never,  for 
a  moment,  wished  the  comfort  of  the  Gilts  less.  She  only 
sighed  for  a  humble  home,  where  she  could  procure  what 
her  father  and  herself  would  need, — and  procure  it  by  the 
labor  of  her  hands  and  brain.  Mrs.  Gilt  bad  shown 
every  avenue  to  labor  closed,  yet,  to  Mattie's  mind,  a  rich 
field  of  labor  lay  all  about;  and  oh  for  one  friendly  hand 
to  open  the  gate!  But  alas  for  the  helpless  child  of  pov- 
erty, with  none  to  care  for  her  !  Driven  thus  from  every 
hope  of  human  agency,  as  a  last  resource,  the  child  again 
prayed,  "God  of  my  mother,  help  me  !"  When  she  had 
arrived  at  this  stage  of  feeling,  and  was  thus  enabled  to 
roll  her  burden  upon  the  strong,  then  came  calm  repose, 
and  refreshing  sleep  sat  sweetly  on  the  slumberer's  lids. 

At  breakfast,  next  morning.  Mrs.  Gilt  again  opened  the 
subject  of  Mattie's  visit,  and  urged  upon  her  an  immediate 


106  DOIXGS  IX  MARYLAND, 

return  to  the  country,  trying  to  excite  her  fears  for  the 
safety  of  her  father  in  her  absence.  Said  the  lady  of 
fashion,  "I  am  quite  certain,  from  what  you  tell  me  of  his 
condition,  that  he  cannot  live  long,  and  then  you  will  be 
at  liberty  to  accept  the  situation  of  governess  ;  in  the  mean 
time,  it  is  dangerous  for  you  to  be  absent  from  him  for  a 
single  hour,  as  there  is  no  telling  at  what  moment  death 
may  supervene." 

The  tears  rushed  to  Mattie's  eyes.  She  sobbed  oat,  "Oh, 
I  would  be  so  unhappy  if  my  father  were  to  die!  I  would 
rather  work  for  him  all  my  life;  and  as  you  say  there  is 
danger  of  his  sudden  death,  like  that  of  my  mother,  I  will 
return  home  by  the  next  train  of  cars."  She  arose  from 
the  table,  the  breakfast  sticking  in  her  throat,  by  reason  of 
her  fears  for  her  father  and  the  scornful  looks  of  Miss  Be- 
linda, and  remarked  to  Mrs.  (lilt,  "  I  will  walk  out  and  see 
the  city,  while  I  am  waiting  for  the  train." 

When  Mattie  left  the  room,  Miss  Caroline  remarked, 
"Ma,  it  is  a  shame  to  let  that  child  go  about  town  with 
that  calico  sun-bonnet  on.     Do  give  her  a  bonnet." 

Replied  the  mother,  "  Well,  if  you  can  find  a  bonnet  in 
the  old-clothes-closet,  give  it  to  her;  I  have  no  objection." 
An  old  mashed-up  bonnet,  that  had  been  tossed  about  the 
garret  floor  ever  since  the  family  had  ceased  to  mourn 
fashionably  for  Mr.  Gilt,  was  found,  and  a  crape  veil,  used 
to  dust  the  parlor,  was  shaken  out,  and  tied  upon  the  bon- 
net.     Thus  equipped,  Mattie  sallied  forth  to  view  the  town. 

Mrs.  Gilt's  residence  was  situated  in  the  most  fashion- 
able part  of  Madison  Street.  As  you  descend  the  hill,  on 
that  street,  you  come  abruptly  upon  a  stream  called  "The 
Falls,"  and  this  stream  divides  the  city  into  two  parts, 
designated  Uptown  and  Old-town.  Cross  this  stream  on 
Madison  Street,  and  you  emerge  immediately  from  ele- 
gance ami  ostentation,  into  the  humble  and  unpretending 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  107 

locality  of  laborious  life.  The  small  dwelling  of  the  me- 
chanic, the  smaller  one  of  the  laborer,  the  wretched  hovel 
of  the  mendicant?  and  the  prison  of  the  felon,  all  meet  you, 
with  one  broad  stare.  Yes,  reader,  those  stately  mansions 
of  Mount-Monument  Place  keep  vigil  day  and  night,  in 
sight  of  wretchedness  and  despair,  in  sight  of  agonized 
hunger  and  hardened  villainy,  nor  ever  blink  with  sorrow 
at  the  sight. 

Mattie,  who,  as  we  stated  before,  was  entirely  unac- 
quainted \\ith  the  city,  by  chance  strolled  into  this  loca- 
tion of  humbled  humanity,  and  was  astonished  at  the 
change  so  abrupt  from  grand  to  mean.  It  was  now  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the  street  was  filled  with  dirty, 
ragged  children.  Mattie  stopped  to  look  at  them  ;  she  had 
never  seen  so  many  children  together  before.  "  A  school 
in  the  street,"  thought  Mattie.  Involuntarily,  she  asked 
herself,  Why  are  these  children  here?  —  and,  being  un- 
able to  solve  the  problem,  she  asked  them. 

11  Because  we  haint  got  nowhere  else  to  go,"  said  a  dirty, 
rosy-faced  fellow. 

"  Why  do  you  not  go  to  school  ?"  she  asked. 

"  We  haint  got  no  school  worth  a-goin'  to,"  replied  the 
same  robust  urchin. 

"  Are  there  no  public  schools  in  this  part  of  the  city  ?" 
asked  Mattie. 

"They  haint  good  for  nothin';  nobody  don't  learn 
nothiu'  in  'em  ;  mother  says  it  haint  worth  a-wearin'  our 
trousers  out  a-settin'  thare." 

"Are  there  no  private  schools  in  the  neighborhood?" 
she  inquired. 

"None  as  I  knows  on,"  replied  the  same  spokesman. 

Mattie  turned  to  walk  away;  a  sign  on  a  shutter  at- 
tracted her  attention  : 

"  Rooms  to  Rent.     Inquire  Within." 

"  Why  may  I  not  rent  these  rooms,  and  have  a  school 


108  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

with  these  children?"  Mattie  asked  herself.  Actuated  by- 
some  mysterious  impulse,  she  knocked  at  the  door.  A 
woman,  with  an  infant  in  her  arms,  answered  the  summons. 

"  1  wish  to  inquire  about  the  rooms,"  said  Mattie. 

"  Walk  in,"  replied  the  woman  ;  "  I  can  give  you  all  the 
information  necessary ;  but  who  is  it  that  wants  the 
rooms  ?" 

"  Myself,  ma'am." 

"Yourself!      Why,   child,    what    do    you   want   with 


rooms 


?» 


"  I  want  one  for  my  father  and  one  for  a  school-room." 

The  woman  pondered.  "  1  don't  know  whether  or  not  my 
husband  would  rent  the  rooms  for  a  school ;  and,  besides, 
where  do  you  expect  to  get  scholars  from  ?" 

"  Out  of  the  street,  ma'am.  I  see  plenty  of  children 
playing  in  the  street;  they  tell  me  they  do  not  go  to 
school." 

"  Yes,  there  are  enough  children  in  the  street  at  all 
times  to  make  a  school ;  but  would  they  come  ?  and,  if  they 
did,  would  you  get  paid  for  your  trouble?" 

"  I  expect  I  would,  ma'am  ;  because  I  would  try  very 
hard  to  bring  them  on,  and  when  their  parents  were  pleased 
with  their  learning  I  think  they  would  pay  me." 

"Yes,  child,  if  they  had  it  to  pay  with,  I  dare  say  they 
would;  but  this  is  a  poor  part  of  the  city;  the  people 
about  here  have  not  much  money  to  spare  for  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children,  it  is  as  much  as  they  can  do  to 
live." 

"  The  prospect  is  a  gloomy  one,"  replied  Mattie,  sadly  ; 
u  but  yet  I  would  like  to  try  it,  because  I  can  see  no 
other." 

"  How  could  a  child  like  you  keep  a  school?"  asked  the 
woman,  though  not  unkindly. 

"1  do  keep  a  school,"  replied  the  child. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  109 

H  Have  you  no  one  to  help  you?" 

II  No,  ma'am,  I  have  none  to  help  me  ;  my  father  is  sick 
and  my  mother  is  dead." 

"  Poor  child !"  exclaimed  the  woman,  and  she  pressed 
the  babe  in  her  arms  still  closer  to  her  bosom.  She  mused 
awhile,  and  then  said,  "  Well,  when  my  husband  comes 
home  to  dinner  I  will  ask  him  about  it,  and  if  he  is  will- 
ing I  will  rent  you  the  rooms.  I  will  assist  you  in  getting 
pupils,  but  I  cannot  promise  you  the  pay ;  you  will  have 
to  risk  that." 

II I  thank  you,"  said  Mattie  ;  "  I  will  walk  about  the 
city  in  the  mean  time,  and  call  again  after  twelve  o'clock." 

The  man  who  occupied  this  humble  dwelling  was  a 
plasterer  by  trade ;  the  woman  and  child  referred  to  con- 
stituted his  entire  family,  and,  to  reduce  expenses,  he  rented 
a  part  of  the  house,  small  as  it  was.  When  applied  to  for 
the  rooms  for  the  purpose  named,  the  husband  objected  on 
account  of  the  noise  and  inconvenience  to  his  wife ;  but 
the  wife  was  greatly  prepossessed  in  favor  of  the  young 
teacher,  and  pleaded  for  the  privilege  of  renting  her  the 
rooms.  Said  she,  "John,  think  of  it  before  you  refuse. 
We  don't  know  what  is  before  ourselves  ;  I  may  be  dead 
and  you  sick,  and  our  sweet  little  Molly  have  no  home  for 
herself  and  you." 

Honest  John's  eyes  moistened  at  the  bare  supposition  of 
such  a  thing,  and  he  replied,  "  Well,  do  as  you  please, 
Mary  ;  you  will  have  the  trouble  with  the  noisy  little  vaga- 
bonds ;  I  am  only  home  when  school  will  be  out,  so  it  does 
not  matter  to  me." 

Said  Mary,  "  It  is  respectable  to  have  a  school  in  the 
house,  and  these  people  don't  seem  like  common  people ; 
the  girl's  manners  are  so  sweet  and  ladylike,  and  yet  so 
natural.     I  should  like  to  know  who  they  are,  anyhow." 

10 


HO  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

11  Where  will  she  get  pupils  from  ?"  asked  the  man ; 
"  the  people  about  here  don't  send  their  children  to  school." 

"  She  thinks  she  can  induce  people  to  send,  because  she 
intends  to  teach  so  faithfully,"  replied  Mary. 

II  Well,  let  the  poor  girl  have  a  chance,  then,"  said  John, 
as  he  snatched  up  his  hat,  kissed  the  baby,  and  strided  off 
to  his  work. 

Mattie  returned  according  to  promise  ;  she  felt  as  if  her 
destiny  was  suspended  upon  a  hair ;  all  her  soul  was  in 
her  eyes  as  they  rested  upon  the  countenance  of  the 
woman. 

"  I  like  the  looks  of  you,"  said  the  woman  ;  "you  don't 
seem  like  low  people,  and  I  will  take  you  into  my  house 
and  do  the  best  I  can  to  get  you  a  school." 

Mattie's  heart  leaped  high  within  her,  and  overflowed 
with  gratitude  to  the  kind-hearted  woman,  though  plain  in 
speech,  and  she  replied,  "  Indeed,  ma'am,  you  shall  have 
no  cause  to  regret  taking  me  into  your  house,  for  I  con- 
sider it  evidence  of  great  kindness  of  heart  to  thus  receive 
a  stranger  without  recommendation." 

II I  want  you  to  make  me  one  promise,"  said  the  woman. 
"  I  will  do  anything  in  my  power  to  oblige  you,"  replied 

Mattie. 

II  Well,  then,  I  want  you  to  educate  my  little  Molly, 
here  (holding  out  the  babe),  and  make  her  a  lady  with 
sweet  manners,  like  yourself." 

II I  will,"  replied  the  young  educator, — smiling  through 
her  tears,  and,  kissing  the  babe,  bade  farewell  to  the  amia- 
ble mother. 

As  soon  as  Mattie  had  left  the  house  of  Mrs.  Gilt,  that 
lady  entered  into  conversation  with  her  housekeeper  on 
the  subject  which  she  knew  was  being  discussed  in  her 
establishment. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  HI 

Said  Mrs.  Gilt  to  Mrs.  Paste,  "That  strange-looking 
girl  that  has  bolted  upon  us  so  rudely  is  the  deranged 
daughter  of  an  English  nobleman.  My  husband  and  her 
father  were  like  brothers  in  the  old  country  ;  but  his,  her 
father's,  dissipation  caused  his  friends  to  disown  him,  and 
his  wife  and  daughter  went  deranged  in  consequence  of 
the  reverse  of  fortune."  As  Mrs.  Gilt  well  knew  would 
be  the  case,  this  story  was  soon  repeated  in  the  kitchen, 
and  the  servants  were  dreadfully  alarmed  at  the  thought 
of  being  in  contact  with  a  "  mad  woman  !" 

Said  Sam,  the  waiter,  "  If  she  am  'ranged,  she  talk 
more  sense  at  de  table  den  de  rest  on  em.  I  don't  believe 
she  'ranged  at  all ;  she  only  poor  !"  But  when  Mattie  re- 
turned to  say  farewell  to  the  Gilts  (and  she  determined  it 
should  be  forever),  Pattie,  the  cook,  ran  through  the 
house  looking  for  her  little  grandchild,  a  bright  mulatto 
that  played  at  pleasure,  and  conveyed  it  to  its  mother  for 
safe  custody  until  the  crazy  girl  should  leave. 

M  Keep  dis  ere  chile,  you  ;  dat  dare  crazy  gal  might  'vour 
it !"  said  the  grandmother  to  the  mother. 

Mattie  did  not  mention  to  the  Gilts  the  fact  that  she  had 
rented  rooms,  but  quietly  took  leave  of  this  by  no  means 
uncommon  class  of  snobs — the  Gilts. 


112  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

HUGH    HAGGIS. 

"  Trust  not  those  cunning  waters  of  his  eye, 
For  villainy  is  not  without  such  rheum, 
And  he  long  traded  in  it,  makes  it  seem 
Like  rivers  of  remorse  and  innocency." 

A  certain  nation,  wise  in  council,  and  humane  in  law, 
except  a  little  plague-spot  here  and  there  on  the  statute- 
book,  in  order  to  get  certain  fellows  out  of  the  community, 
and  yet  make  them  of  use  to  the  world,  very  properly 
sends  them  on  voyages  of  discovery.  This  method  of 
punishment  is  far  better  than  that  which  shuts  up  in  filthy 
prisons  strong  hearty  men,  there  to  rot  out  their  wretched 
lives,  engender  pestilence,  and  send  death  floating  over  all 
the  land. 

A  gentleman  of  the  nation  alluded  to,  had  a  servant 
whose  name  heads  the  chapter.  This  servant  had  acquired, 
and  continued  to  practice,  such  propensities  of  appropria- 
tion, as  to  make  it  necessary  for  the  good  of  society,  that 
he  should  take  the  voyage.  Being  an  adept,  however,  of 
the  Jack  Sheppard  class,  he  managed  to  elude  his  ene- 
mies,— the  friends  of  honesty, — and,  by  virtue  of  his  villain  y, 
to  escape  the  shackles  of  the  prison-ship,  and  thus  without 
indebtedness  to  the  crown  for  either  passport  or  passage, 
to  make  his  way  to  America.  The  father  of  this  fellow 
had  lived  and  died  in  the  employ  of  the  father  of  our  un- 
fortunate Mr.  Douglas.  This  circumstance  occasioned  the 
boys  to  *be  much  in  each  other's  society  ;  living  on  the 
same  farm,  they,  as  children,  played  together  until  the 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  113 

ever-surging  tide  of  time  threw  them  asunder, — Douglas 
to  go  to  school,  Haggis,  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  to 
go  to  service  in  a  distant  part  of  the  country.  As  boys, 
these  two  never  met  again,  but  when  long  years  had 
passed,  and  they  were  matured  by  time,  they  met  in  a 
street  in  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Douglas,  in  the  new  world,  had  heard  nothing  of 
the  career  of  Hugh  in  the  old  ;  but,  alas  !  Hugh  had  heard 
over  and  over  again  the  details  of  the  reckless  career  Mr. 
Douglas  was  pursuing, — one  which  must,  as  all  knew, 
eventuate  in  ruin.  Borne  upon  the  breeze,  across  the 
trackless  ocean,  came  the  mournful  sound — "  all  is  not 
well!  All  is  not  well  with  the  loved  ones  far  away!" 
Both  for  his  sake,  and  that  of  his  much-esteemed  wife, 
strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  induce  the  wanderer  to 
return  to  the  bosom  of  friends  and  country,  where  the 
loving  vigilance  of  those  jealous  for  his  good,  it  was 
hoped,  would  act  as  a  restraint  upon  him,  and  check  his 
mad  career. 

"  No,  no,  no !  I  will  never  return  to  my  friends  worse 
than  I  left  them  1"  was  his  persistent  reply.  The  wily 
Hugh  knew  enough  of  all  this  to  decide  his  actions  and 
induce  him  to  a  course  of  villainous  manipulation.  He 
determined  to  seek  out  Mr.  Douglas,  and  fasten  upon  him 
as  the  milk-snake  is  said  to  fasten  its  vile  jaws  upon  the 
udder  of  the  innocent  cow,  and  when  it  has  exhausted  her 
milk,  drink  her  blood.  The  bigger  devils'  better  luck 
favored  him  even  in  this  resolve,  for  a  few  days  after 
landing  in  New  York  he  met  Mr.  Douglas  in  the  street. 
The  family  likeness  was  so  strikingly  displayed  in  his 
majestic  mien  that  the  villain,  sharpened  by  long  practice, 
knew  him  at  a  glance,  though  he  had  not  seen  him  since 
he  was  a  boy, — but  he  knew  he  was  a  Douglas,  and,  ap- 
proaching, claimed  his  acquaintance. 

10* 


114  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"Why,  my  young  master,  have  you  so  entirely  forgot- 
ten the  playmate  of  your  childhood? — the  Hugh  Haggis 
that  drew  you  from  the  run,  when  you  fell  from  the  nut- 
tree  ?" 

Said  Mr.  Douglas,  "I  remember  well  the  boy  Hugh 
Haggis,  but  I  should  never  have  taken  the  pale-faced, 
crafty-looking  creature  before  me,  to  be  the  same  rosy, 
romping  fellow  that  sported  with  me  on  my  father's  lawn, 
that  followed  at  our  heels  when  we  rode  a-hunt,  fleet  as 
the  hounds,  and  always  in  at  the  death.  Can  it  be  that 
you  are  the  same  Hugh  Haggis  ?" 

"  The  same  in  person,  my  master,  but  not  the  same  in 
heart.  The  world  has  dealt  hardly  with  me,  Master 
Douglas,  and  I  am  pale-faced  from  care,  and  crafty-look- 
ing, as  you  are  pleased  to  express  it,  from  necessity  ;  for 
I  am  even  now  on  a  chase,  flying  before  my  creditors,  an 
outcast  from  my  country,  because  of  a  few  paltry  debts. 
You  know,  sir,  that  a  man  in  my  station  in  life  could  get 
but  little  credit,  and  yet  for  that  little  I  would  now  be 
rotting  in  a  prison  had  I  not  succeeded  in  making  my 
escape."  And  here  Hugh  put  his  hands  to  his  face  and 
actually  wept. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  moved  with  compassion,  moved  even 
to  sadness,  and  he  replied,  "Well,  Hugh,  I  think  it 
would  have  been  better  for  both  you  and  myself  if  we  had 
remained  children ;  we  were  happy  then  :  neither  of  us 
has  gained  much  by  manhood." 

Hugh  saw  by  this  childish  remark,  and  the  maudlin  ex- 
pression of  his  eye,  that  Mr.  Douglas  was  even  then  under 
the  influence  of  liquor,  and  he  determined  to  follow  up  his 
advantage. 

14  Will  you  take  me  for  a  servant,  Mr.  Douglas  ?  I  will 
take  care  of  your  horses,  drive  your  carriage,  wait  on  table, 
blacken  your  boots,  or  do  anything  you  wish,  if  you  will 
only  take  me  into  your  employ." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  115 

A  flush  of  pride  and  shame  mounted  to  the  cheek  of 
Douglas,  and  he  replied,  "  I  am  not  able  to  pay  you 
much,  Hugh,  for  I  am  not  so  well  off  now  as  when  I  left 
home,  and  no  doubt  you  can  command  situations  that 
would  be  more  profitable  to  you  than  any  I  could  offer, 
and  thus  enable  you  the  sooner  to  pay  your  debts." 

"  I  would  rather  serve  you,  Master  Douglas,  because  of 
my  love  for  your  family  and  of  our  boyhood's  memories, 
so  that  if  you  will  consent,  I  will  not  be  particular  about 
the  pay  or  the  price;  give  me  anything  you  please,  only 
shelter  me  from  my  pursuers,  for  they  will  be  after  me  like 
a  pack  of  hounds;  and  do  not  call  me  by  the  old  name, 
but  call  me  Dan  Drummond,  or  anything  you  please,  ex- 
cept the  old  name  !" 

Mr.  Douglas  never  for  a  moment  suspected  the  truth, 
and  he  remarked, — "  Why,  it  is  strange  that  for  a  few 
debts  you  should  be  thus  unmercifully  persecuted  ?" 

"I  have  an  enemy!  I  have  an  enemy,  who  has  tried 
to  ruin  me  ;  for  years  he  has  been  trying  to  ruin  me,"  said 
Hugh,  seemingly  much  excited. 

"  Poor  fellow  !  Well,  then,  I  will  try  and  protect  you  ; 
so  here,  Dan,  take  this  order  to  Nelson  &  Co.,  and  bring 
to  my  house  the  articles  named  in  it,"  said  Mr.  Douglas, 
laughing  at  the  change  of  name.  "And  here  is  the  direc- 
tion to  my  house,  and  be  certain  to  have  these  things 
brought  home  this  evening,  especially  the  wine,  brandy, 
and  cigars,  for  I  am  going  to  have  some  hearty  whole- 
souled  fellows  with  me  to-night,  and  you  may  attend  us, 
and  give  yourself  out  as  my  butler,  waiter,  or  anything 
you  please." 

Hugh,  in  his  new  home,  soon  made  himself  as  indispen- 
sable to  Mrs  Douglas  as  to  her  husband.  He  was  not 
long  in  finding  out  the  haunts  of  the  latter,  and  would  go 
in  quest  of  him  in  the  dead  hours  of  the  night,  and  bring 


116  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

him  safely  home.  This  affectionate  care  won  the  good 
opinion  of  the  mistress,  and  the  position  of  general  facto- 
tum of  the  establishment  was  conferred  upon  this  seem- 
ingly devoted  servant.  He  went  to  market,  he  went  to 
store,  and,  oh,  fatal  confidence,  he  went  to  bank.  Hugh's 
object  was  now  attained,  and  he  proceeded  to  wind  up 
affairs  and  make  his  master  serviceable  to  him  on  a  grand 
scale.  He  approached  Mrs.  Douglas  first.  "Madam,'' 
said  he,  "  I  am  in  a  continual  sorrow  on  account  of  my 
wife  and  little  ones  at  home.  I  send  them  all  my  wages, 
and  my  wife  works  with  her  needle,  yet  we  can  never 
hope  to  be  united  as  a  family  again  unless  I  receive  assist- 
ance, and  I  have  none  to  whom  I  can  apply  except  your- 
self." 

"  What  can  I  do  for  you,  Hugh  ?"  inquired  Mrs.  Douglas, 
in  some  surprise. 

11 1  wish  you,  madam,  to  ask  Master  Douglas  to  lend  me 
sufficient  money  to  bring  over  my  family,  and,  as  my  wages 
will  not  support  a  family,  I  want  him  to  let  me  have  the 
price  of  a  little  grocery  store  down-town,  the  good-will  and 
fixtures  of  which  are  to  be  sold.  I  will  work  hard  and 
pay  as  soon  as  I  can,  but  I  have  no  security  to  give  except 
my  honor!  My  wife  is  a  very  clever  woman,  and  could 
make  a  figure  in  the  world  if  she  had  the  chance;  but,  with 
none  to  lend  us  a  helping  hand,  our  case  is  desperate." 

"Your  children  are  small,  I  think  you  said  ?" 

"  Yes,  ma'am  :  and  both  girls." 

"Well,  I  shall  talk  to  Mr.  Douglas  about  your  request. 
How  much  money  do  you  require  for  the  purpose  named?" 

"I  can  bring  out  my  family,  set  up  housekeeping  on  a 
small  scale,  and  purchase  the  little  shop  I  mentioned,  for 
about  nine  hundred  dollars,  ma'am." 

When  Mrs.  Douglas  found  her  husband  sufficiently  sober 
to  talk  on  business  subjects,  she  mentioned  Hugh's  request, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  117 

gently  hinting  at  the  propriety  of  spending  some  money 
in  a  benevolent  cause,  whence,  like  bread  cast  upon  the 
water,  it  might  return  in  after-days;  but  being  spent  as  it 
now  was,  the  only  harvest  it  could  bring  would  be  that  of 
tears. 

Mr.  Douglas  did  not  want  to  hear  remarks  of  this  kind, 
and,  to  silence  his  wife,  he  assented  to  what  he  thought 
would  gratify  her  benevolent  propensities,  but  remarked 
to  her  at  the  same  time,  "  I  have  strong  suspicions  of  that 
fellow's  honesty;  on  various  occasions  he  has  chiseled  me 
out  of  change,  and  I  have  observed  other  signs  about  him 
that  I  do  not  like;  but  as  he  seemed  to  be  such  a  favorite 
with  you,  I  have  said  nothing  on  the  subject.  His  father 
was  an  honest  fellow,  but  his  mother  was  a  great  villain, 
and  I  fear  Hugh  has  inherited  her  character." 

Said  Mrs.  Douglas,  "  Could  you  not  take  security  upon 
the  store  until  he  pays  for  it  ?" 

u  Lord,  wife  !"  he  exclaimed,  "  would  you  have  me  act 
like  a  Jew  money-lender  ?  If  I  do  the  fellow  a  favor  I 
shall  do  it  like  a  gentleman." 

Mr.  Douglas  was  a  princely-hearted  fellow  ;  he  had  but 
one  failing, — an  inability  to  deny  himself  the  pleasures  of 
jovial  companionship  and  the  cup.  Generous  at  all  times, 
he  was  doubly  so  when  under  the  influence  of  generous 
wine  ;  those  who  approached  him  for  a  favor  then,  were 
sure  of  success.  This  Hugh  had  noted  with  reference  to 
future  action,  and  the  opportunity,  alas,  was  but  too  soon 
afforded.  A  few  nights  after  this  conversation  with  his 
wife  about  Hugh,  every  word  of  which  Hugh  had  heard, 
Mr.  Douglas  was  in  fine  spirits, — spirits  flowing  in  and 
spirits  flowing  out.  It  was  late;  he  was  alone  with  his 
bottle,  Mrs.  Douglas  having  retired.  Hugh  approached  him 
on  the  subject  of  the  loan. 

Said  the  master  in  reply,  "Mrs.  Douglas  has  mentioned 


118  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

your  request  to  me,  Hugh,  and  I  dare  say  I  shall  lend  you 
the  money." 

"  I  knew  you  were  a  gentleman,  every  inch  of  you  !" 
exclaimed  Hugh,  excitedly,  and,  crouching  down,  embraced 
the  knees  of  his  victim  ;  then,  rushing  from  the  room,  he 
soon  returned  with  a  bowl  of  hot  punch,  foaming  and  fra- 
grant. "  Now,  my  master,"  said  he,  "  here  is  a  delicious 
draught;  drink  this  to  make  you  sleep  sweetly,  and  I  will 
carry  you  to  bed  as  gently  as  if  you  were  an  infant."  Mr. 
Douglas  drank  the  contents  of  the  bowl,  and  was  then 
about  finished  and  read\r  for  use.  Hugh  produced  writing- 
materials.  "  Now,  master,  just  write  me  the  check  for  the 
money  ;  but  a  gentleman  like  you  would  scorn  to  say  nine 
hundred  ;  say  nine  thousand,  and  set  your  poor  servant 
afloat  in  the  world." 

Mr.  Douglas  attempted  to  speak,  but  only  hiccuped  ; 
Hugh  put  the  pen  in  his  hand  and  the  check-book  before 
him.  Mr.  Douglas  attempted  to  write,  but  could  not  guide 
his  hand.  Hugh  put  his  hand  on  that  of  his  victim,  and, 
thus  controlled,  the  poor  hand  had  no  will  of  its  own,  but 
humbly  wrote  whatever  the  tyrant  that  sat  upon  it  dic- 
tated ;  and  thus  nine  thousand  was  written  instead  of  nine 
hundred. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  then  conveyed  to  bed,  where  he  safely 
reposed  until  the  noon  of  the  next  day.  As  soon  as  the 
bank  opened  the  next  morning,  Hugh  presented  his  check. 
The  first  customer  was  Hugh  that  morning,  and  blithe  as  a 
lark. 

"Why,"  said  the  banker,  "Mr.  Douglas  has  drawn  out 
all  his  money  except  a  few  hundreds  ;  but,  as  you  are  in 
the  habit  of  attending  to  his  bank  business,  I  suppose  it  is 
all  right." 

"  He  has  purchased  a  piece  of  property,"  said  Hugh, 
"and  wants  this  money  to  pay  for  it." 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  119 

"A  transfer  might  have  been  made,  perhaps,"  said  the 
banker ;  "  but  Mr.  Douglas  knows  no  more  of  business  than 
a  child." 

Hugh  deposited  the  precious  wallet  in  his  breast-pocket, 
and,  taking  the  next  train  of  cars,  was  soon  out  of  reach 
of  Mr.  Douglas  and  his  second  sober  thought.  The  mis- 
creant had  heard  of  a  place  down  South  called  Rogue's 
Harbor,  on  account  of  the  protection  which  the  laws  gave 
to  strangers,  and  thither  he  bent  his  steps.  Being  unable 
to  find  the  place,  however,  without  inquiry,  wrhich  might 
lead  to  detection,  he  dropped  into  Maryland,  and  from  an 
advertisement,  finding  an  opening  for  business,  Arab-like, 
pitched  his  tent.  Hoping  that  a  brilliant  name  might  daz- 
zle his  pursuers,  and  help  to  elude  pursuit,  he  changed  his 
last  cognomen  of  Drummond  into  Gilt,  and  thus  the  Gilts 
staud  confessed  in  all  their  brazen  greatness. 

Hugh  Haggis,  alias  Drummond,  alias  Gilt,  was  suc- 
cessful in  business,  became  a  wholesale  merchant,  made  a 
fortune,  built  a  palace  in  the  park,  died  a  rich  man,  and 
left  a  fashionable  family, — the  widow  Gilt  and  her  two 
fashionable  daughters. 

Now  that  we  have  given  a  succinct  account  of  the  fash- 
ionable Gilts,  we  return  to  the  unfortunate  Douglas,  and 
his  unfashionable  daughter. 


120  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

JOURNEY. 

"  Man,  though  limited 
Ey  fate,  may  vainly  think  his  actions  free, 
While  all  he  does  was  at  the  hour  of  birth, 
Or  by  his  gods  or  potent  stars,  ordained." 

The  die  is  cast;  Mattie  has  disposed  of  the  little  stock 
her  father  possessed, — the  old  horse,  the  cow,  a  few  pigs 
and  chickens.  The  money  thus  obtained  will  defray  the 
expense  incurred  by  removing  the  family  to  the  city.  To 
the  interrogations  of  patrons  and  well-meaning  inquirers, 
who  considered  the  step  of  doubtful  propriety,  she  replied, — 

11 1  go  to  the  city  because  I  feel  impelled  by  an  impulse 
which  I  cannot  resist.  I  want  books  and  knowledge  for 
myself,  and  medical  aid  for  my  father;  and  I  want  these 
things  so  much  that  I  have  no  rest  for  my  spirit  night  or 
day.  My  hungry  heart  is  continually  crying,  craving,  and 
reaching  forth  into  the  unknown  future.  Like  a  bird  that 
is  trying  to  fly  and  cannot,  so  rises  and  falls  my  soul  as 
hope  and  fear  alternately  predominate.  1  believe  I  could 
not  live  another  year  in  this  fluctuating  state  of  mind." 

Said  a  shrewd  old  farmer,  ''As  to  knowledge,  you  may 
perhaps  get  more  than  will  be  good  for  you,  young  and 
inexperienced  and  unprotected,  too,  as  you  are." 

"  I  am  lonely,  it  is  true,  but  God  will  protect  me,"  re- 
plied the  child,  thai  was  always  a  child  and  always  a 
woman:  a  woman,  because  of  her  steady  habits  and 
serious  care;  a  child  through  life,  because  of  the  purity 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.      .  121 

and  simplicity  of  her  character.  "  God  will  protect  me," 
she  replied,  with  the  most  earnest  and  simple  faith.  Faith 
in  what,  dear  reader?  In  the  words  of  a  dead  mother! 
Think  of  that,  mothers,  when  talking  to  your  children. 

And  kind  old  Nannie  said  "  she  would  go  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth  with  the  child,  and  sure  ;  for  what  was  the  use  of 
her  staying  all  alone  by  herself  in  the  country,  where 
there  was  no  company  that  she  liked,  when  she  might  go 
to  the  cit}7-,  where  it  was  more  heartsomelike,  and  more 
lifesomelike,  and  sure  there  was  luck  for  her  anyhow?" 

The  news  had  spread  that  a  school  was  to  be  opened  in 
the  plasterer's  house,  and  the  day  of  the  teacher's  ex- 
pected arrival  having  been  announced,  a  crowd  of  urchins 
gathered  about  the  door.  As  Mr.  Douglas  was  being 
lilted  from  the  carriage,  young  America  set  up  a  shout, — 

"  Ha  !  old  one,  you  can't  whip  !"  • 

''I'll  come  to  school  to  you." 

"  But  mebbe  it's  the  gal.  though,"  from  the  other  side. 

"  Don't  care  if  it  is,  I  can  take  the  whip  from  her  1" 

Mattie  deduced  the  conclusion  that  city  and  country 
children  were  different ;  but  she  was  in  for  it  now,  her 
hand  was  on  the  plow,  there  was  no  looking  back.  A 
heterogeneous  mass  was  Mattie's  school  !  Ragged  Bob 
and  crying  Bill,  lying  Nell  and  saucy  Bet.  "  Patience 
must  have  its  perfect  work,"  was  her  motto.  But  the 
struggle  was  desperate  ;  she  began  to  think  she  must  sink, 
when,  at  the  moment  of  despair,  came  encouragement. 
Pupils  were  brought  to  her  from  the  adjacent  public  school 
in  consequence,  parents  said,  of  the  reformation  she  had 
made  in  certain  notorious  characters  in  the  neighborhood. 
Also,  there  was  a  complaint  that  the  city  school  was  not 
efficient,  and  as  Mattie's  had  proved  eminently  so,  the 
transfer  of  pupils  became  so  frequent  and  numerous  as  to 
elicit  the  attention  of  the  school  authorities. 

11 


122  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

And  now  the  young  teacher  had  plenty  of  labor  but 
little  pay;  her  charge  was  small,  and  even  that  pittance 
often  went  unpaid,  because,  as  she  had  been  warned  by 
the  plasterer's  wife,  of  the  inability  of  the  parties  con- 
cerned. Mattie  smiled  at  the  remembrance  of  her  terrific 
dream,  as  she  put  away  five  dollars  of  those  received  for 
the  cow,  and  with  this  sum  purchased  a  year's  member- 
ship of  the  Public  Library.  And  now  her  hungry  heart, 
as  she  expressed  it,  reveled  in  an  intellectual  feast.  The 
authors  most  favorably  mentioned  in  that  never-forgotten 
conversation  between  Miss  Bip  and  Dr.  Bramble  she 
read  first,  and  with  much  of  their  contents,  though  never 
seen  before,  the  studious  girl  felt  familiar.  Sentiments 
latent,  though  hitherto  dormant,  were  now  aroused  into 
activity,  simply  by  seeing  the  same  expressed,  and  she 
would  pause,  press  her  hand  upon  her  brow,  and  exclaim, 
"  Why,  surely  this  thought  is  but  the  echo  of  an  old 
memory  1"  And  thus  many  a  best  thought  appeared  to 
her  as  an  old  friend  might  who  had  been  absent  for  a 
time,  perhaps  upon  a  journey,  and  who  now  returned  with 
other  news  to  tell,  but  told  the  new  story  with  the  same 
loved  voice,  the  same  familiar  expression  of  face  and  ges- 
ture. And  why  this  strange  sympathy,  this  reflux  as  of  a 
tide  ebbed  out  but  now  returned,  only  with  greater  force  ? 
Simply  because  the  tones  those  writers  uttered,  the  ideas 
they  eliminated,  the  beautiful  visions  they  presented,  had 
many  a  time  and  oft  passed  through  the  brain  of  the  em- 
bryo artist,  had  shaped  themselves  in  her  mind's  eye,  had 
been  echoed  deep  down  in  her  heart.  Oue  has  remarked, 
"No  thought  was  ever  thought  that  was  not  thought 
before,  and  will  be  thought  agaiu  by  those  who  have  not 
seen  the  thought  expressed."  This  reflection  some- 
what takes  down  the  vainglory  of  the  so-called  original 
thinker. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  123 

Mattie  read  voraciously  that  year,  and  it  is  incredible 
what  a  number  of  volumes  she  perused.  She  made  the 
circuit  of  modern  literature,  novels,  poetry,  history,  travels, 
biography;  but  with  the  gratification  the  appetite  increased, 
and  her  insatiate  heart  still  cried,  "Give!  give!"  How- 
ever much  she  might  have  wished  to  continue  this  luscious 
repast,  she  did  not,  but  obeyed  the  dictates  of  her  better  judg- 
ment, and  commenced  a  systematic  course  of  sterner  study, 
embracing  mathematics,  astronomy,  French,  and  music. 

We  remarked  before  that  Mattie's  school  afforded  abun- 
dance of  labor  but  little  remuneration.  The  pupils  were 
of  that  class,  the  scanty  and  hard-earned  income  of  whose 
parents  renders  it  inconvenient  to  pay  for  the  education  of 
their  children ;  and  this  state  of  things,  which  exists  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  in  every  community,  renders  a  system 
of  public  instruction  indispensable  to  the  well-being  of 
society.  Nothing  can  be  more  incumbent  upon  the  wealthy 
than  a  provision  for  the  education  of  their  less  fortunate 
fellow-beings ;  and  to  such  a  provision  the  city  in  which 
flattie  lived  laid  the  most  ostentatious  claims.  But  this 
provision  or  system,  if  such  it  could  be  called,  was  so  in- 
complete in  its  working,  so  imperfect  in  its  development, 
as  to  render  it  unworthy  of  public  confidence,  and  dear  to 
the  community  at  half  the  expense  entailed.  One  news- 
paper said,  "  People  pay  their  taxes  promptly,  teachers 
receive  their  salaries  regularly,  school  commissioners  are 
elected  yearly,  and,  with  grave  importance,  meet  weekly ; 
yet  the  poor  children  starve  daily  for  want  of  a  crumb  of 
education." 

But  among  the  class  of  people  referred  to,  and  thus  re- 
stricted in  means,  are  found  many  noble  spirits  who  de- 
prive themselves  of  even  the  necessaries  of  life,  that  they 
may  bestow  upon  their  offspring  some  little  strength  of 
heart  and  principle  (by  means  of  education)  before  send- 


124  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

ing  them  forth  to  battle  with  that  monster — the  World — 
before  they  engage  in  the  dreadful  contest  of  life, — a  con- 
test that  is  prepared  for  us  without  our  consent,  and  from 
which  we  may  not  escape,  and  in  which  so  many  are 
borne  down  to  rise  no  more,  no  more  in  this  world  at 
least.  With  such  the  gallows  groans  beneath  its  burden, 
the  prisons  cry  "  It  is  enough,"  and  that  worst  of  earthly 
hells — the  brothel — receives  its  horrid  and  abundant  quota. 
Oh,  wise  women  of  the  age,  look  to  this,  this  most  fearful 
stain  upon  your  sex! 

And  the  noble  and  self-sacrificing,  for  the  sake  of  their 
children,  did  patronize  Mattie's  school,  but  not  in  suffi- 
cient numbers  to  sustain  it;  yet  she  never  rejected  a 
pupil  because  of  non-payment,  consequently  the  income 
was  by  no  means  in  proportion  to  the  outgo  of  labor  or 
adequate  to  the  comfortable  support  of  the  family.  But 
the  bread  cast  upon  the  water  in  time  brought  its  reward. 
As  a  legitimate  result  of  her  charity,  Mattie's  school  in- 
creased in  popularity,  while  that  of  the  neighboring  city 
school,  from  causes  equally  natural,  decreased  rapidly,  and 
thus  was  brought  about  a  climax  which  produced  an  entire 
revolution  in  the  affairs  of  this  remarkable  girl.  School 
commissioners  found  it  would  be  necessary  to  remove 
either  their  school  or  Mattie's,  and  as  it  was  more  con- 
venient to  do  the  latter  than  the  former,  she  was  advised 
to  apply  for  a  situation  under  the  Board.  The  hint  was 
gratefully  accepted  and  acted  upon. 

Mattie  attended  the  next  examination  of  teachers,  passed 
brilliantly,  and  without  the  aid  of  Mrs.  Gilt's  politicians 
was  promptly  elected. 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  125 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

DR.    DONKUR. 

"About  his  shelves 
A  beggarly  account  of  empty  boxes, 
Great  earthen  pots,  bladders,  and  musty  seeds, 
Remains  of  packthread  and  old  cakes  of  rosin, 
Were  thinly  scattered  to  make  up  a  show." 

The  hope  of  relief  presented  to  Mr.  Douglas  proved 
an  all-sufficient  inducement,  and  secured  his  prompt  con- 
sent to  the  proposed  change  of  residence,  and  to  the  risk 
they  must  run  of  starving  among  strangers.  The  suffer- 
ing man,  mentally  and  ph}Tsically  infirm,  was  childishly 
impatient  to  be  off  as  soon  as  the  idea  of  going  had  taken 
possession  of  his  mind,  and  when  once  at  his  journey's 
end,  "A  doctor  !  a  doctor!"  was  his  constant  cry. 

A  stranger  in  the  city,  and  unacquainted  with  its  celeb- 
rities, Mattie,  of  course,  had  to  be  guided  in  her  selec- 
tion of  a  physician  by  the  opinions  of  those  by  whom  she 
was  surrounded.  She  had  fallen  among  a  class  of  people 
remarkable  for  quick  and  generous  impulses,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, destitute  of  philosophical  investigation, — hence 
credulous,  easily  deceived  and  readily  dazzled  into  ap- 
plause by  the  flash  and  glitter  of  adroit  imposition.  In 
this  neighborhood,  at  this  particular  juncture,  a  certain 
Dr.  Donkur  enjoyed  the  pre-eminence  of  flashing  and  dash- 
ing celebrity.  Cures  as  remarkable  as  those  made  by  the 
apostles  were  attributed  to  him,  though  no  one  knew  how 
such  improbabilities  had  gained  credit,  the  person  could 
not  be  found  who  had  witnessed  practice  by  the  doctor 

11* 


126  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

corroborative  of  the  astounding  reputation  claimed  for  him 
by  those  whose  pleasure  it  seemed  to  be  to  sound  his 
praise.  The  fact  was,  certain  individuals  had  no  other 
business  in  life  than  to  blow  the  trumpet  of  the  doctor's 
fame,  but  only  the  knowing  ones,  who,  at  a  distance, 
caught  the  echo  of  the  sound,  suspected  the  fact  that  this 
was  his  method  of  advertising.  The  puff-ball  had  thus 
cunningly  been  put  in  motion,  and  the  further  it  rolled  the 
larger  it  grew. 

Among  the  wonderful  cures  attributed  to  this — not 
doctor  of  divinity,  but  divinity  of  a  doctor,  was  that  of  a 
poor  sailor  who,  from  undue  exposure,  hard  usage,  and 
constitutional  causes,  had  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs.  He 
had  been  doctored  and  douched  in  the  three  principal 
cities  of  the  Union,  had  been  dismissed  from  the  best  hos- 
pitals as  incurable ;  it  was  reserved  for  Dr.  Donkur  only 
to  restore  vitality  to  limbs,  long  since  paralyzed  and  dead. 
He  heard  of  the  case,  and,  panting  for  glory,  waited  upon 
the  invalid,  and  proffered  a  gratuitous  attendance,  giving 
the  hope  of  perfect  restoration,  if  the  sufferer  would  only 
place  himself  under  his  treatment  unreservedly,  and  sub- 
mit to  his  entire  control.  The  unfortunate  man,  only  too 
happy  to  grasp  at  the  shadow  of  a  hope,  eagerly  consented, 
declaring  that,  if  restored  to  health,  all  his  after-life  should 
be  devoted  to  so  noble  a  benefactor.  The  doctor  assured 
him  that  his  restoration  would  be  no  l'mger-em-loug  pro- 
cess, but  a  single  operation,  speedy  in  its  effects,  would 
do  the  business  at  once,  and  equally  astonish  the  patient 
and  the  world. 

The  time  for  the  operation  was  appointed,  spectators 
invited, — not  medical  spectators,  however, — the  trumpeters 
notified  to  be  on  duty,  and  all  things  prepared  for  the  event 
which  \v:is  to  make  Dr.  Donkur  the  greatest  of  living  phy- 
sieians.     The  poor  cripple  was  brought  in  and  laid  upon 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  127 

the  floor  with  his  face  downwards.  He  was  divested  of 
his  clothes  by  the  doctor's  assistants,  and  the  doctor,  with 
the  solemnity  of  a  magician,  proceeded  to  build  a  fire 
upon  the  sick  man's  back.  Chips  and  shavings  of  rosin 
pine  were  laid  along  his  spine  and  set  on  fire,  much  as 
children  for  cruel  sport  put  coals  upon  the  back  of  a  tor- 
toise, that  they  may  have  the  fun  of  seeing  the  tortured 
animal  stretch  out  and  strain,  as  for  a  winning-post,  its 
clumsy  gait. 

With  a  howl  of  agony  that  curdled  the  blood  in  the 
veins  of  the  spectators  and  sent  them  bolting  from  the 
room,  the  poor  fellow  sprang  upon  all  fours,  then  floun- 
dered and  beat  about  the  floor  in  the  manner  of  a  chicken 
whose  head  has  just  been  severed,  or  that  of  a  corpse,  the 
nerves  of  which  have  received  a  powerful  shock  from  a 
galvanic  battery.  And  thus  the  unfortunate  man,  who 
had  so  innocently  placed  himself  in  the  hands  of  an  un- 
principled empiric,  writhed  and  squirmed,  gasped  and 
died.  "  They  buried  him  darkly  at  dead  of  night,"  and, 
after  a  time,  a  report  was  circulated  to  the  effect  that  the 
man  had  recovered  and  left  the  city.  This,  and  similar 
feats,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  doctor's  fame !  He  was 
as  eminent  for  the  cure  of  consumption  as  of  paralysis, 
and,  though  as  deaf  as  a  post,  he  was  such  an  expert  aus- 
cultator,  that  he  could  sound  a  patient's  lungs  across  the 
street.  His  deafness,  whether  real  or  pretended,  was  a 
most  convenient  appendage,  and  afforded  the  doctor  lots 
of  amusement,  as  well  as  of  real  pleasure.  It  afforded 
him  an  excuse  for  sitting  near  his  lady  patients,  for  gazing 
deep  into  their  eyes,  for  approaching  his  lips  close  to  theirs, 
especially  if  they  were  young  and  pretty, — he  was  always 
unusually  deaf  then  ! 

Of  course,  all  this  was  unknown  and  unsuspected  by 
the  humble  inhabitants  of  Mattie's  neighborhood,  in  whose 


128  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

opinion  the  doctor  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession.  Mattie 
was  only  too  happy  to  obtain  for  her  father  aid  so  magnifi- 
cent, and,  with  innoceut  humanity,  besought  the  medical 
Juggernaut  to  visit  the  abode  of  her  afflicted  parent.  After 
a  lapse  of  time,  sufficient  to  give  due  importance  to  his 
coming,  with  a  speed  and  a  crash  which  threw  up  every 
window  in  the  neighborhood  and  drew  forth  every  head, 
the  great  doctor  arrived.  He  essayed  to  examine  the  pa- 
tient, but  an  uninterested  observer  might  have  remarked 
that  he  looked  one  moment  at  the  sick  man  and  two  at 
the  sick  man's  daughter. 

"By  jove  !"  he  mentally  exclaimed,  "a  perfect  clover- 
blossom."  He  entered  into  conversation  with  her,  and 
found,  to  his  astonishment,  a  mind  fresher,  sweeter,  more 
beautiful,  more  richly  laden,  than  whole  acres  of  clover- 
blossoms. 

"A  jewel  in  an  ash-heap  1  By  Heaven,  I'll  wear  it!" 
was  his  mental  resolve. 

Innumerable  were  the  prescriptions  for  pills,  powders, 
lotions,  and  baths.  Poor  Mattie  wondered  where  all  the 
money  was  to  come  from  to  pay  for  these  expensive  things ; 
"  but  I'll  save  every  cent,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  I'll  even  do 
without  food,  only  eat  a  little  just  to  keep  life  in  me,  that 
I  may  have  the  money  to  buy  the  medicine  that  will  make 
my  father  well.  Oh,  I  am  so  glad  we  have  got  this  great 
physician !"  The  great  physician  was  as  prompt  and  regu- 
lar in  his  attendance  upon  Mr.  Douglas  as  if  he  had  been 
a  rich  man.  Mattie  was  charmed,  so  were  the  kind-hearted 
neighbors.  Dr.  Dunkur  was  more  famous  than  ever.  He 
was  also  deafer,  and  consequently  when  Mattie  gave  him 
information  of  the  patient,  ho  heard  with  his  lips  closer  to 
her  lips,  his  eyes  deeper  down  into  hers.  Mattie,  he  is 
trying  to  mesmerize  you  ;  unsuspecting  child,  beware  ! 

On  one  occasion,  when  conversing  with  the  young  nurse 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  129 

about  her  much-loved  charge,  the  doctor  adroitly  brought 
the  subject  round  to  phrenology. 

"  Are  you  a  believer  in  phrenology  as  a  science  ?"  he 
asked. 

"  I  do  not  know  enough  of  the  subject  to  give  an  opinion," 
replied  Mattie. 

11  Fowler  is  in  the  city  at  present;  go  to  him  and  get  a 
chart  of  your  head.  I  should  like  to  know  your  strong  and 
weak  points,"  said  the  doctor,  playfully  running  his  fingers 
behind  her  ear. 

"I  will  think  of  it,"  replied  the  girl,  startled  at  the 
snaky  expression  of  his  eye.  He  was  so  exceedingly  deaf 
just  then  that  his  lips  touched  hers  before  he  could  hear  a 
word.  She  sprang  from  her  seat,  and,  running  behind  his 
chair,  screamed  into  his  ear  at  the  top  of  her  voice,  "  I'll 
think  of  it." 

After  this  interview,  Mattie  felt  unhappy,  though  she 
knew  not  why  ;  but  the  presence  of  the  doctor  was  hateful 
to  her,  and  she  avoided  him  on  all  occasions,  making 
Nannie  receive  his  directions  about  the  patient.  Mattie 
had  a  mind  that  no  one  could  hoodwink  long,  and  she  now 
gave  place  to  a  suspicion,  before  entertained,  that  her  father 
was  not  being  benefited  in  the  least  by  the  doctor's  medi- 
cine. One  more  interview,  then,  one  more  conversation  on 
the  subject,  should  decide  the  matter. 

On  the  occasion  of  his  next  visit  she  approached  him. 
"  Doctor,  I  am  prepared  to  hear  the  worst.  What  is  your 
opinion  of  my  father  ?     Can  you  benefit  him  or  not  ?" 

"  My  dear  girl,  I  have  despaired  of  his  case  long  since ; 
I  cannot  benefit  him  in  the  least." 

"  Pray  may  I  inquire  why  your  visits  are  continued, 
then  ?"     said  Mattie,  with  open-eyed  astonishment. 

"My  visits  are  to  yourself,  sweet  girl.  Are  you  so 
cruelly  unappreciative  as  not  to  feel  that  my  visits  are  to 
yourself?" 


130  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven  !  for  what  purpose  do  you  visit 
me  ?"  she  interrogated  with  almost  breathless  emotion. 

"  I  want  you  for  my  wife." 

"  For  your  wife  !    Why,  you  have  one,  have  you  not?" 

u  But  I  shall  not  have  her  long.  Have  I  not  been  telling 
you  over  and  over  that  she  is  paralyzed  like  your  father 
and  cannot  recover  ?  I  know  she  will  not  live  long,  and  I 
want  another  engaged  against  the  time  when  my  legal 
obligation  to  this  one  shall  cease." 

Mattie's  sense  of  honor  was  of  the  nicest  kind,  and  her 
feelings  revolted  at  this  proposition  as  much  as  if  the  fellow 
had  proposed  marriage  in  the  Mormon  style,  while  his  wife 
yet  lived.  Obeying  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  and  almost 
unconscious  of  what  she  did,  she  arose,  opened  the  door, 
and,  with  profound  dignity,  bowed  the  suitor  out.  There 
was  a  scornful  expression  in  the  girl's  eye,  and  a  curl  of 
the  lip,  as  she  stood  at  that  open  door,  which  admitted  of 
no  parley.  So  out  he  went,  but  he  sent  her  a  memento  of 
himself,  in  the  form  of  a  bill  for  medical  attendance,  which 
it  took  years  to  pay  ;  and  only  that  imprisonment  for  debt 
— that  relic  of  barbarism — was  banished  from  the  statute- 
book  of  Maryland,  the  child  and  her  father  would  have 
rotted  in  a  prison  to  glut  the  vengeance  of  a  villain  foiled 
in  his  diabolical  design. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  131 

CHAPTER    XXY. 

SCHOOLS. 

"  Let  authors  write  for  glory  and  reward, 
Truth  is  well  paid  when  she  is  sung  and  heard." 

The  public  school  system  in  Maryland  fainted.  All 
who  were  interested  saw  that  something  must  be  done  to 
infuse  vitality  into  its  benumbed  and  stagnant  circulation. 
After  much  discussion,  it  was  finally  determined  by  those 
in  power,  although  the  burden  of  taxation  would  thereby 
be  increased,  to  establish  a  higher  grade  of  schools, — re- 
ward schools, — into  which  teachers,  and  pupils  who  dis- 
tinguished themselves,  might  be  promoted,  the  former  to 
teach  and  the  latter  to  learn.  The  philanthropic  rejoiced 
at  the  prospect  for  the  poor,  and  so  did  the  demagogue 
politician,  who  at  once  perceived  the  thing  would  make  a 
famous  hobby  on  which  to  ride  before  the  public.  The 
School  Board  held  a  special  meeting  on  the  subject,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  draft  resolutions  and  make  arrange- 
ments for  carrying  the  brilliant  idea  into  immediate 
effect. 

Said  Committeeman  A,  "We  must  first  give  the  con- 
templated schools  a  name ;  it  will  be  so  much  more  con- 
venient to  talk  about  them  ;  for  how  could  we  talk  about 
beasts  if  Adam  had  not  given  them  names?" 

Said  Committeeman  13,  "I  propose  to  call  them  High 
Schools." 

"  How  can  we  give  them  such  a  title  until  we  know 
whether  or  not  they  will  deserve  it?"  said  Committee- 
man C. 


132  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"We  intend  to  make  them  deserve  it,"  said  Committee- 
man D. 

"  What  kind  of  High  1  High  up  in  four-story  houses, 
or  high  in  price?"  innocently  asked  Committeeman  E. 

Now  Committeeman  D  was  one  of  the  genus  "  politico- 
pedigo"  before  referred  to,  and  he  replied  for  great  Bun- 
combe, "  High,  sir,  in  point  of  scientific  and  literary  grade. 
We  intend  to  make  these  schools  unsurpassed  in  efficiency ; 
in  fact,  they  shall  rival  all  the  aristocratic  colleges  in  the 
country,  and  in  them  the  poor  laborer's  son,  and  the  des- 
titute widow's  daughter,  shall  receive  educations  that  will 
fit  them  for  any  position  in  this  or  any  other  country.  In 
a  few  years  from  this  the  President  of  this  glorious  Union 
may  walk  down  our  streets  and  select  for  his  minister  to 
the  Court  of  St.  James,  or  any  other  court,  the  first  man 
he  meets,  and  he  shall  find  him  ready  to  stand  up  to  the 
best  of  them,  lords  and  dukes,  kings  and  queens.  And 
that  same  minister  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  or  any  other 
court,  may  select  for  his  accomplished  wife  any  girl  that 
has  been  educated  in  this,  that  is  to  be,  world-renowned 
city,  and  place  her  in  the  ducal  throng  to  represent  the  fair 
daughters  of  this  fair  nation  ;  yes,  sir,  represent  them 

"  '  To  tho  distant  lands  of  orient  hue, 

Or  the  island  that  lies  like  a  drop  of  dew 
On  the  inane  of  the  dandy-lion.' 

"  So  universally  do  we  intend  to  spread  the  blessings  of 
education,  that  the  very  hawkers  and  criers  in  our  streets 
shall  h.awk  and  cry  in  Latin  and  Greek;  and  the  lone 
watchman,  on  his  midnight  beat,  shall  be  able  to  relieve 
the  dull  tedium  of  his  vigils  by  songs  of  Tasso  in  the 
original,  and  by  astronomical  observations  involving  ihe 
deepest  mathematical  calculations.  That,  sir,  is  what  we 
mean  to  do  for  young,  blushing,  blooming,  bouncing 
America." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  133 

Committeeman  C,  in  former  years,  had  been  a  laboring 
weaver,  and  it  had  been  the  great  and  only  one  ambition 
of  his  life  to  own  a  factory.  The  throw  of  the  shuttle 
appeared  to  him  the  most  graceful  of  movements;  the 
whir  and  clatter  of  the  machinery,  the  sweetest  music; 
to  be  a  boss  and  own  a  factory,  the  climax  of  greatness. 
lie  now  addressed  the  committee  : 

"  Gentlemen,  we  cannot  with  propriety  call  these  schools 
by  either  of  the  titles  proposed.  If  we  should  call  them 
High,  and  it  turned  out  that  they  were  low,  no  doubt  the 
ridicule  would  be  infernal.  We  cannot  call  them  colleges, 
because  we  do  not  intend  them  to  be  chartered ;  and 
academy  is  too  hackneyed.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  call 
them  Education  Factories !  That  will  be  so  research-a 
(recherche),  and  besides  suggestive  of  character,"  pro- 
phetically spoke  Committeeman  C. 

In  days  when  Committeeman  C  threw  the  shuttle  in  the 
dim,  damp  cellar  of  his  employer,  such  a  suggestion  from 
him  would  have  been  laughed  to  scorn ;  but  now  he  pos- 
sessed the  god  of  America — money — no  matter  how  ob- 
tained ;  hence  he  was  oracular  with  Buncombe  politicians 
whose  notes  he  held,  and  commissioners  (poor  creatures!), 
who  adore  nothing  so  much  as  the  almighty  dollar.  Fac- 
tory, then,  was  the  accepted  cognomen,  and  three  of  the 
kind  it  was  decided  to  erect;  two  Female,  an  Eastern  and 
Western,  and  one  Male  Central.  Our  business,  in  this 
volume,  is  with  the  Female  Factories,  especially  the 
Eastern,  because  Mattie  got  entangled  in  the  machinery 
of  that  one.     The  Male  Central  we  reserve  for  a  sequel. 

We  remarked  that  Committeeman  C  spoke  propheti- 
cally, when  he  said  the  term  Factory  would  be  suggestive 
of  character.  Alas,  yes  ;  the  unconscious  prognostic  was 
proved  to  have  been  but  too  aptly  such  ;  for  like  the  hy- 
drophobic prints  sent  out  by  some  factories  and  which 

12 


134  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

pale  at  the  approach  of  water,  so  the  educations  obtained 
in  these  institutions,  when  called  into  requisition  for  the 
practical  purposes  of  life,  are  found  to  be  utterly  valueless. 
Years  of  precious  time,  which  can  never  be  redeemed,  are 
lost  in  learning  by  rote,  without  understanding  a  single 
principle,  a  few  questions  in  algebra  and  geometry,  in  dis- 
cussing the  difference  between  magnetism  and  electricity, 
telling  why  the  dainty  pith-ball  bounds  coquettishly  away 
at  the  approach  of  the  electric  rod,  or  with  amorous  haste 
kisses  its  magnetic  lips.  How  the  pneumatic  and  voltaic 
pile  are  constructed,  the  difference  between  carbonic  acid 
and  carbonic  oxide,  between  alkalies  and  alkaloids,  be- 
tween oxidation  and  deoxidation,  by  children  that  cannot 
read  with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  that  cannot  write  a 
page  correctly,  or  analyze  a  sentence  of  their  mother 
tongue,  that  know  no  more  of  the  history  of  their  own 
country  than  they  do  of  the  red  snow  regions,  except,  in- 
deed, the  questions  on  which  they  have  been  drilled  for 
exhibition,  and  which  were  all  put  in  on  the  high-pressure 
principle. 

Then  the  public  expense.  Ah,  the  waste  of  public 
money  which,  if  properly  applied,  would  bring  joy  to  the 
heart,  honor  to  the  head,  and  renown  to  the  names  of 
thousands  ! 

We  are  not  opposed  to  systems  of  public  education  ; 
nay,  we  look  to  them  for  the  dissemination  of  that  intelli- 
gence which  is  to  perpetuate  this  republic  and  regenerate 
the  nations.  Intelligent  and  untrammeled  thought  is  that 
great  temple  of  equal  rights  and  equal  advantages  into 
which  men  must  enter  and  be  baptized  before  they  go 
forth  to  govern  themselves  and  the  world.  The  ability  to 
think  correctly  must  become  universal;  then  will  be 
ushered  in  that  millennial  reign,  when  the  gospel  of  Christ 
shall  cover  the  earth  like  one  glorious  burst  of  dazzling  sun- 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  135 

sliinc;  when  it  shall  repair  the  effects  of  Adam's  fall; 
when  it  shall  restore  to  the  world  that  equilibrium  of 
moral  purity  which  it  would  have  enjoyed  by  inheritance 
but  for  the  "  primal  disobedience  which  brought  death  into 
the  world  and  all  our  woes." 

This  is  a  digression  and  we  proceed  with  the  story. 

Mr.  Seeker  was  the  Principal  elect  of  the  Eastern  Fac- 
tory. Nathan  H.  Slytickle,  first  assistant ;  he  was  of  the 
Uriah  Heep  genus,  meek  and  much  a  liar.  And  last  and 
least,  but,  though  small  in  stature,  large  in  art,  Miss  Ursa 
Minor,  second  assistant. 

Mr.  Seeker  enjo}red  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  his 
position  but  for  a  short  time,  poor  fellow,  as  he  soon  found 
it  necessary  to  seek  other  quarters,  so  quickly  and  effect- 
ively was  he  tickled  out  of  these.  Like  Bluebeard's  wives, 
he  laughed  and  died,  only  his  death  was  official,  theirs,  as 
the  story  goes,  physical.  And  how  Mr.  Slytickle  tickled 
Mr.  Seeker  out  of  the  principalship,  and  himself  into  it, 
I  propose  to  tell,  if,  kind  reader,  you  will  follow  the  cocka- 
trice's egg  through  the  process  of  hatching. 


136  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XXYI. 

MARY   BROWN. 

"Famine  is  in  thy  cheeks, 
Need  and  oppression  stareth  in  thine  eyes, 
Upon  thy  back  hangs  ragged  misery, 
The  world  is  not  thy  friend,  nor  the  world's  laws." 

A  small  and  dilapidated  house,  situated  in  one  of  the 
most  obscure  and  poverty-scarred  parts  of  the  city,  has  for 
its  occupant  an  invalid  woman  and  her  orphan  daughter. 
This  woman  has  seen  better  days,  and  although  she  has 
long  been  steeped  in  squalid  poverty,  and  surrounded  by 
coarse  and  vulgar  scenes,  her  cultivated  sensibilities  are 
not  destroyed,  and  her  heart  still  clings  to  the  remem- 
brance of  that  refinement  which  was  once  her  sphere.  She 
has  endeavored  to  give  her  only  child  an  education,  wish- 
ing and  expecting  by  that  means  to  elevate  her,  superior 
to  the  rude  circumstances  by  which  she  is  surrounded; 
for  this  purpose  she  must  avail  herself  of  the  city  school, — 
she  has  no  other  means  of  obtaining  the  much-coveted 
good.  Many  a  weary  day  and  night  has  the  mother  plied 
for  their  support  the  ill-requited  needle,  buoyed  up  by  the 
hope  that  when  Mary  shall  have  finished  her  education 
she  will  obtain  a  situation  as  teacher,  and  then  she — poor, 
sick  mother,  worn  out  with  anxiety  and  fatigue — may  rest 
a  little,  and  be  comforted  by  t he  affectionate  care  of  her 
child,  and  sustained  by  the  proceeds  of  her  superior  labor. 

At  the  period  to  which  we  refer  in  the  history  of  this 
family,  Mary  is  a  pupil  in  the  Eastern  Female  Education 
Factory  ;  her  term  of  required  attendance  is  about  to  ex- 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  137 

pire,  and  Mrs.  Brown  counts  the  months,  the  weeks,  nay, 
even  the  days  and  hours,  that  must  elapse  ere  the  epoch 
of  deliverance  arrives,  and  she  be  relieved,  io  some  meas- 
ure, of  the  burden  that  is  crushing  her.  She  can  labor  no 
longer.  If  relief  does  not  come  in  some  form,  she  must 
sink  beneath  the  accumulated  weight  of  bodily  infirmity 
and  mental  anxiety. 

Commissioner  A  has  promised  Mary  a  situation  as  teacher 
as  soon  as  she  has  completed  her  education !  On  this 
promise  the  broken-down  woman  has  lived;  it  has  kept 
the  reluctant  blood  creeping  through  her  heart;  it  has 
galvanized  the  relaxed  nerves  of  her  worn-out  system.  She 
clutches  convulsively  the  needle,  and,  strained  up  by  the 
hope  that  relief  is  at  hand,  accomplishes  the  daily  amount 
of  work  that  will  afford  them  their  daily  supply  of  food, 
and  nothing  more.  She  has  finished  the  work  for  the  day, 
and  is  now  lying  prostrate  upon  her  couch.  Mary  is 
seated  by  her  side. 

Says  the  mother,  "  I  am  so  glad,  my  dear,  that  your 
term  at  school  has  ended  at  last;  you  will  get  a  situation 
immediately,  and  then  I  can  take  a  little  rest;  perhaps 
when  I  have  less  labor  and  anxiety,  my  health  will  react, 
and  I  shall  }^et  be  spared  to  watch  over  and  guide  you, 
and  surround  your  path  with  my  loving  care." 

Said  Mary,  "  Mother,  I  am  very  much  afraid  I  shall 
not  pass  the  examination  for  teacher.  I  know  that  in 
many  of  the  requisite  branches  I  am  deficient,  and  I  have 
tried  hard  to  advance  in  those  necessary,  but  I  could  get 
no  assistance.  Mr.  Slytickle  was  always  painting  pen- 
handles  or  making  gas,  and  when  I  approached  him  for 
help,  I  saw  he  did  not  like  the  interruption ;  and  Miss 
Ursa  Minor  was  either  reading  a  new  book  or  writing  a 
letter,  and  if  I  approached  her  for  directions  how  to  go  on 
with  my  work,  she  was  as  huffish  as  Mr.  Slytickle;  and 

12* 


138  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

thus  repelled  on  all  sides,  I  was  without  alternative,  and 
had  to  learn  as  best  I  could  in  silence.  The  branches 
taught  by  the  Principal  I  understand,  because  he  is  faith- 
ful and  kind  to  all  the  girls  ;  but  those  are  not  required 
in  the  examination  of  teachers,  they  are  for  diplomas. 
And  now,  mother,  you  must  pardon  me  for  not  telling  you 
this  sooner ;  I  feared  to  do  so  :  if  a  complaint  had  been 
made  to  the  school  authorities  there  would  have  been  no 
more  peace  for  me  in  that  institution." 

Mrs.  Brown  raised  herself  on  her  elbow  and  gazed  at 
her  daughter  with  a  look  so  ghastly  that  it  froze  the  hot 
blood  in  the  child's  bounding  veins.  "Not  pass!  not 
pass!  did  you  say?  And  is  it  for  this  I  have  spent  long 
years  of  toil  to  keep  you  at  school  and  give  you  an  educa- 
tion, which  I  thought  would  elevate  you  above  such  de- 
pravity as  surrounds  us,  and  place  it  in  your  power  to 
sustain  my  feeble  old  age  ?  Now,  when  I  am  broken  in 
body  and  spirits ;  now  that  the  strength  has  passed  from 
my  heart  like  the  odor  from  a  flower  that  is  crushed  be- 
neath the  feet  of  the  careless,  thronging  crowd ;  now  you 
tell  me  your  time  and  my  trouble  have  all  been  thrown 
away,  and  you  cannot  pass  the  requisite  examination  I" 
The  wretched  woman  fell  back  upon  her  pillow  gasping 
with  emotion. 

Poor  Mary's  tears  bedewed  her  mother's  pallid  face; 
laying  her  burning  cheek  to  the  blanched  and  shrunken 
cheek  of  her  almost  dying  parent,  she  moaned  out,  "  I 
could  not  help  it,  mother !  do  not  blame  me,  mother  I  I 
was  poor  and  friendless,  and  so  I  received  no  attention 
from  the  teachers." 

"  God  only  knows  what  will  become  of  us,"  gasped  the 
mother ;  "  I  have  put  the  landlord  off  from  time  to  time 
by  telling  him  that  you  expected  a  situation,  and  then  I 
would  pay  all  arrears ;  but  now,  when  he  finds  that  you 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  139 

have  nothing  to  expect  in  that  quarter,  Ave  will  be  tossed 
out  of  the  house,  and  where  we  are  to  fine  a  shelter  I 
cannot  tell." 

(Scene — The  Examination-Boom.) 

"TTho  is  that  girl  yonder  that  is  sobbing  and  moaning 
so  piteously  ?"  asked  Commissioner  A,  as  he  came  into  the 
room  in  which  candidates  were  being  examined. 

"It  is  Mary  Brown,"  replied  Mr.  Slytickle.  "  She  has 
failed  in  her  examination,  and  she  is  bewailing  and  taking 
on  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  life  and  death." 

That  it  was  a  matter  of  life  and  death,  Mr.  Slytickle 
neither  knew  nor  cared. 

(Scene— The  Street.) 

A  few  old  pieces  of  furniture  are  exposed  upon  the  side- 
walk for  sale,  the  proceeds  to  pay  the  rent  of  a  kennel 
scarcely  fit  for  the  shelter  of  dumb  brutes.  A  covered 
cart,  containing  within  its  hearselike  jaws  a  dying  woman, 
is  taking  its  course  towards  the  city  almshouse.  The 
piercing  shrieks  of  a  young  and  almost  heart-broken  girl 
ring  out  upon  the  air,  "Oh,  my  mother!  my  mother!" 
But  the  air  is  not  startled,  for  the  air  in  that  locality  is 
used  to  shrieks. 


140  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

A   SECRET    ENEMY. 

"You  are  a  humbug,  sir." 
"Dare  you  say  so  ?" 
"I  dare." 

Old  Play. 

Said  Commissioner  A  to  the  meek  Slytickle,  "  How  is  it, 
sir,  that  so  many  of  the  graduates  from  the  Eastern  Factory 
fail  in  their  examination  ?  I  am  especially  sorry  for  Miss 
Brown,  as  I  had  promised  her  mother,  who  is  a  worthy 
woman,  a  situation  for  Mary  as  soon  as  she  graduated;  but 
now,  having  failed  in  her  examination,  I  can  do  nothing  for 
her.  These  institutions  are  maintained  at  great  expense  to 
the  city,  and  certainly  the  people  have  a  right  to  expect  more 
advantages  from  them  than  they  have  as  yet  received." 

Said  Slytickle,  "  Why,  you  see,  sir,  the  fact  is  our  Principal 
is  not  a  practical  man, — he  is  a  splendid  theorist,  but  not  a 
practical  man, — consequently,  while  he  is  building  castles  in 
the  air  his  houses  on  the  ground  get  out  of  repair.  I  could 
tell  you  a  great  many  things,  but  then  you  must  summon 
me  before  the  committee  and  demand  my  testimony,  so  that 
an  official  injunction  may  shield  me  from  the  consequences 
of  giving  what,  indeed,  I  have  no  inclination  to  withhold, 
only  I  fear  the  consequence." 

"I  shall  convene  the  committee  immediately  ;  hold  your- 
self, sir,  in  readiness  to  appear." 

(Scene — Mr.  Slytickle  brfore  the  Committee.) 

Chairman. — "  How  is  it,  Mr.  Slytickle,  that  such  a  want 
of  success  attends  the  Eastern  Factory  ?  The  failure  of  that 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  HI 

establishment  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  public  is  lament- 
able, and  it  becomes  our  duty  to  investigate  the  matter." 

"  Well,  sir,  the  fault  is  with  our  Principal,  who  is  a  most 
worthy  gentleman,  but  so  utterly  unpractical.  Why,  sir, 
I  could  give  you  information  that  would  astonish  you  ; 
but,  then,  you  must  keep  what  I  tell  you  a  profound 
secret,  because  Mr.  Seeker  is  a  strong  man  and  I  am  a 
weak  man  ;  you  know  I  don't  mean  anything,  but,  then,  he 
could  inflict  upon  me  personal  injury.'' 

Commissioner  B,  with  a  patronizing  air. — "Go  on,  sir, 
with  your  testimony;  we  will  shield  you  from  the  conse- 
sequence." 

"  Well,  then,  gentlemen,  I  will  give  you  the  last  case  of 
Mr.  Seeker's  want  of  practicability.  He  announced  to  the 
school  that  on  a  certain  day  he  would  experiment  upon  the 
sustenance  of  life,  with  a  view  to  proving  the  assertion 
that  nothing  could  live  without  air, — that  is,  animal  life 
could  not  be  supported  without  the  aid  of  that  subtle 
fluid.  Well,  gentlemen,  as  certain  as  you  sit  there,  he  got 
the  school  assembled,  and  the  kitten,  brought  for  the  pur- 
pose, under  the  receiver,  and  he  pumped  and  pumped  until 
his  heart  was  nearly  broken,  trying,  but  all  in  vain,  to 
produce  a  vacuum, — he  is  so  unpractical,  you  see.  Well, 
no  vacuum  could  he  produce,  and  no  kitten  could  he  kill  ; 
he  could  not  even  scare  the  thing,  for  it  knew  its  master's 
character,  and  perfectly  understood  that  he  would  never 
accomplish  anything  he  undertook.  So  there  sat  the  saucy 
creature  blinking  and  winking  at  the  girls,  and  almost 
ready  to  laugh  right  out  at  its  master's  frantic  efforts.  But, 
gentlemen,  although  I  tell  you  all  this,  yet  I  don't  mean 
anything,  only  our  worthy  Principal  pumped  until  the 
perspiration  rolled  from  his  brow,  and  all  to  no  purpose  j 
when,  finally,  raising  the  receiver,  he  permitted  the  kitten 
to  escape,  and  then  explained  to  the  school  that  the  animal 


142  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

was  scientifically  dead ;  and  now  they  all  understood  bow 
impossible  it  was  to  live  without  breath." 

u  Why,  the  man  must  be  demented,"  said  Commissioner 
B,  with  great  indignation;  "I  am  for  dismissing  him  at 
once." 

Mr.  Slytickle,  evidently  alarmed. — "Now,  gentlemen, 
remember  I  am  a  weak  man  and  Mr.  Seeker  is  a  strong 
man;  he  may  do  me  some  personal  injury  if  this  should 
come  to  his  ears." 

"Be  calm,  sir,"  patronizingly  from  Commissioner  B, 
"be  calm,  we  will  protect  your  interest;  Mr.  Seeker  shall 
never  know  where  the  blow  comes  from." 

"  You  see,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  a  proud  man  like  our 
Principal,  I  am  a  humble  man,"  said  Uriah  Heep  the  second. 

Very  patronizingly  from  Commissioner  B. — "Yes,  we 
understand,  Mr.  Slytickle  ;  and  now  you  ma}^  retire  for  the 
present." 

{Scene — Mr.  Seeker  before  the  Committee.) 

Said  the  Chairman,  "  Mr.  Seeker,  the  committee  has 
convened  and  summoned  you  before  it  to  investigate  the 
cause  of  the  numerous  failures  which  take  place  in  the 
examination  of  graduates  from  your  school." 

"  They  do  not  fail  in  my  branches,  sir,"  said  Mr. 
Seeker,  bowing  gentlemanly. 

"But  do  you  not  consider  yourself  responsible  for  the 
whole  school  ?" 

"Most  certainly  not,  sir;  you,  I  mean  the  committee, 
select  my  assistants,  as  they  arc  called,  without  my  advice, 
and  dismiss  them  in  the  same  manner.  They  are  responsi- 
ble to  you  and  not  to  me." 

"  But  is  it  not  a  part  of  your  duty  to  observe  the  teachers 
under  you,  and  report  to  the  committee  if  they  do  not  attend 
to  their  business  properly?" 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  143 

"  If  by  observing,  sir,  you  mean  playing  the  spy  upon 
the  teachers  associated  with  me,  I  confess,  sir,  I  do  not  con- 
sider it  a  part  of  my  duty,  neither  can  I  accept  it  as  such." 

"  How  does  Slytickle  attend  to  his  business  ?"  put  in 
another  member  of  the  convention. 

Mr.  Seeker,  with  some  hauteur. — "  I  am  not  on  the 
witness-stand,  sir." 

11  He  is  too  independent,"  whispered  Com.  C;  "I  don't 
like  him." 

Said  the  Chairman,  "  We  consider  it  necessary  for  the 
good  of  the  school  that  the  Principal  shall  make  a  secret 
report  to  this  committee  once  a  month  at  least,  of  the  faith- 
fulness and  efficiency  of  the  teachers  under  him,  or  to  the 
contrary,  if  such  be  the  case." 

Mr.  Seeker's  Saxon  blood  rushed  into  his  face,  and  he 
replied  with  dignity  of  manner,  "  Then  you  must  employ 
another  man  for  the  purpose,  gentlemen  ;  I  cannot  accept 
the  work  of  espionage  which  you  assign  me." 

The  Chair. — "  Then,  sir,  we  will  dispense  with  your 
services  at  the  expiration  of  the  present  quarter." 

Mr.  Seeker. — "  I  shall  not  intrude  upon  you,  sir,  until  the 
end  of  the  quarter,  but  shall  vacate  immediately."  And 
bowing  gracefully,  left  the  room. 

At  the  door,  or  rather  outside,  Mr.  Seeker  met  his  coad- 
jutor Slytickle,  who  had  been  peeping  and  listening. 

"  Has  anything  happened  ?"  eagerly  asked  Slytickle. 

"Yes,  something  has  happened, — 1  have  resigned,"  re- 
plied Seeker. 

"  But  you  don't  mean  anything  by  it,  do  you?"  asked 
Slytickle. 

"  I  always  mean  what  I  say,"  replied  the  badgered  man, 
and,  casting  upon  the  crouching  dog  before  him  a  con- 
temptuous look,  left  the  building. 

Slytickle  rushed  frantically  into  the  committee-room. 


144  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"Oh,  gentlemen,  gentlemen, "  he  exclaimed,  "I  could 
watch  the  teachers  and  report  to  you  !  I  could  watch  'em 
all  day,  and  I  could  kill  the  kitten,  and  I  am  a  humble 
man, — I  don't  put  on  airs.  Oh,  gentlemen  !  you  know 
what  I  would  ask.  Take  pity  on  a  man  with  an  extrava- 
gant wife  and  a  child  besides." 

"Be  composed,"  said  the  patronizing  Commissioner  B. 
"  We  think  favorably  of  you,  Mr.  Slytickle,  and  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  you  will  be  rewarded  for  your  fidelity  by 
receiving  the  exalted  position  to  which  you  aspire;  and 
when  you  are  Principal  of  the  Eastern  Female  Education 
Factory  we  expect  the  machinery  to  be  well  oiled,  the 
boiler  kept  full,  and  the  blower  in  motion." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

PROMOTION. 

"It  were  indeed  a  misfortune  for  the  community,  if  among  the  many 
blunders  made  by  men  who  have  charge  of  public  interests,  they  did  not 
sometimes  get  right  by  accident." 

The  experiments  in  education  were  going  on  and  failing 
in  the  Factories.  Those  pompous  structures,  whose  pre- 
tending fronts,  reared  high  and  bold,  signified  to  the  be- 
holder that  they  were  there  for  some  great  purpose. 
Stately  they  stood,  in  all  their  splendid  nothingness,  and 
in  them  hundreds  from  the  city  treasury  every  year  were 
spent,  in  experimenting  upon  the  chemical  properties  of 
Boap,  and  the  effect  of  that  salvo  upon  commissioners;  in 
testing  the  components  of  gas  thai  would  make  a  noise  in 
the  public  ear  and  blind  the  public  eye,  not  forgetting 
large   experiments  iii  laughing-gas   and   talking-gas.     To 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  145 

furnish  these  sepulchers  of  intellect,  thousands  of  the 
public  money  were  spent,  and  that  in  the  purchase  of 
philosophical  apparatus,  of  much  of  which  the  teachers 
neither  knew  the  names  nor  the  use,  and  tens  of  thousands 
upon  the  teachers  themselves,  whose  chief  recommenda- 
tion was  their  servility,  and  whose  official  life  was  one 
concatenated  lie! — perfect  in  its  linking. 

While  all  this  solemn  farce  was  being  acted  in  one  part 
of  the  city,  poor  Mattie  was  in  another  laboring  honestly, 
faithfully,  in  her  humble  sphere  far  out  upon  the  common, — 
common,  indeed  !  where  the  afflicted  air,  burdened  with 
discordant  sounds,  and  stench  most  foul,  sighed  and  be- 
moaned its  degraded  state. 

Amid  machine-shops  and  steam-boiler  establishments, 
and  shanties  reeking  with  the  smell  of  burning  tan  and 
smoking  (ish ;  with  the  jail  on  one  hand  and  the  peniten- 
tiary on  the  other, — a  place  as  abominable  for  its  sights  as 
for  its  sounds.  Thus,  amid  a  population  as  coarse  and 
vulgar  as  the  scenes  and  circumstances  by  which  they 
were  surrounded,  did  Mattie  come  like  the  first  struggling 
sunbeam  on  a  polar  sea  after  the  horrors  of  an  Arctic 
night.  Laboring  earnestly,  regardless  of  the  effect  upon 
herself,  she  was  only  anxious  to  perform  her  part  to  the 
satisfaction  of  her  conscience  first,  and  her  patrons  next. 
Such  was  her  extreme  modesty  that  she  was  almost  un- 
conscious of  her  own  ability,  and  totally  unexpectant  of  the 
results  that  followed.  Rough,  uncouth  marble  became 
smooth  and  polished  beneath  her  artistic  touch.  Harsh 
natures  yielded  to  her  kind  yet  firm  demands.  Hearts 
and  dispositions,  hardened  and  corrupted  by  unkind  usage 
and  debasing  association,  became  softened  and  purified 
under  her  gentle  training.  Savage  and  revengeful  thoughts 
— thoughts  of  deadly  hate  and  dastard  rapine — fled  from 
the  breasts   of  those   whom  she  instructed,  like  as   the 

13 


146  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

demon-vulture  fled  from  the  heart  of  the  king  before  the 
sweet  sounds  of  David's  harp.  And  thus  she  soon  placed 
her  school  peerless  in  its  grade,  and  herself,  in  public 
estimation,  at  the  head  of  her  profession.  Great,  too, 
were  the  disadvantages  under  which  this  most  faithful 
of  teachers  labored,  with  respect  not  only  to  location, 
but  to  the  class  of  children  to  be  taught, — children  kept 
at  home  half  the  time  to  work  or  mind  the  baby  while 
mother  went  out  to  work;  children  made  restive  and  in- 
subordinate under  necessary  restraint  by  the  home  influ- 
ence of  family  strife  and  unpunished  rebellion  ;  children 
that  are  taught  lying  and  begging  as  a  trade;  for  such 
surroundings  embraced  the  school,  and  none  more  horrid 
could  be  found.  But  despite  all  these  retarding  circum- 
stances, Mattie  presented  every  year  to  the  Factories, 
where,  alas!  they  were  permitted  to  forget  what  she,  with 
so  much  sacrifice,  had  taught  them,  her  quota  of  pupils, 
larger  than  that  furnished  by  any  other  school,  although 
every  school  in  the  city  had  the  advantage  of  hers  in 
point  of  position.  This  unlooked-for  success  attracted 
public  attention  and  elicited  public  applause;  and,  finally, 
pupils  began  to  pour  in  from  all  sections,  braving  the  hor- 
rors of  external  circumstances,  because,  when  once  inside 
the  walls,  an  intellectual  feast  was  spread  for  their  ac- 
ceptance not  to  be  found  elsewhere.  Many  families  living 
too  remote  to  permit  the  attendance  of  their  children, 
moved  as  near  the  ugly  neighborhood  as  was  thought 
compatible  with  gentility,  and  thus  the  school  building 
had  to  be  enlarged  to  meet  the  increasing  demand  for 
room.  It,  seemed  as  though  the  winds  of  heaven  caught 
up  and  carried  far  and  wide  the  fame  of  the  timid,  unas- 
suming girl,  whose  only  talisman  of  Buccess  was  that  her 
heart  was  in  her  work.  "Thou,  Uod,  seest  me,''  her 
motto. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  H7 

The  Committee  on  the  failing  Factories  having  de- 
termined to  place  the  creature  Slytickle  in  the  position  of 
Principal  of  the  Eastern,  thought  best  to  fill  his  place — 
that  of  first  assistant — with  a  lady  whose  efficiency  had 
been  proved  beyond  a  doubt,  and  the  choice  fell  upon 
flattie. 

With  many  tears  of  her  own,  and  from  the  pupils  she 
was  leaving,  who  clung  to  her  and  sobbed  as  if  at  the 
burial  of  a  loved  parent,  Mattie  bade  farewell  to  the 
scene  of  her  first  efforts  in  the  cause  of  public  education, 
— where  labor  had  been  sweetened  by  success,  and  a  rich 
and  abundant  harvest  repaid  the  seed  sown  in  tears  and 
tilled  by  industry. 

The  elevation  of  Miss  Douglas  over  the  head  of  Miss 
Ursa  Minor  deeply  wounded  the  self-complacency  of  that 
chirping,  crickety  little  woman,  who  buzzed  and  fluttered 
round  all  in  a  pester  of  self-laudation,  as  though,  indeed, 
her  labor  and  faithful  performance  of  duty  had  entitled  her 
to  consideration.  Little  women  are  so  pestiferously  fussy  ! 
Webster — he  the  great  talker — said,  "Nothing  was  more 
desirable  than  a  little  farm  well  tilled  except  a  little  wife 
well  willed,"  and  I  suppose  the  scarcity  of  the  article 
enhances  the  value.  A  little  woman  feels  that  nature  has 
not  dignified  or  distinguished  her,  and  in  her  efforts  to 
supply  the  deficiency  and  attract  your  attention,  she  be- 
comes most  uncomfortably  "  de  trop."  Like  a  mouse,  she 
will  make  a  nest  in  your  coat-sleeve  before  you  know 
where  you  are,  or,  like  a  wren,  build  in  your  hat  the  mo- 
ment it  is  off  your  head  ;  and  then,  because  she  is  a  woman, 
you  must  bear  the  intrusion  You  may  grind  your  teeth 
or  your  finger-nails,  bite  your  lips  or  your  tongue,  but 
bear  the  intrusion  you  must.  Byron's  abhorrence  was  a 
dumpy  woman,  and  such  is  mine.  A  tall  woman  will  be 
dignified  perforce  of  circumstances  ;  her  figure  demands  it ; 


148  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

and  if  she  makes  any  pretension  to  refinement,  she  will 
cultivate  manners  suitable  and  graceful  to  her  physical  de- 
velopment. Then  the  reciprocal  effects  of  mind  and  matter 
are  so  mysteriously  blent  that  what  affects  the  one  will 
tell  upon  the  other,  and  thus  dignified  sentiments  will  pro- 
duce dignified  manners  ;  and  though  we  do  not  exactly  say 
that  dignified  manners  will  produce  dignified  sentiments,  yet 
manners  are,  to  some  extent,  indicative  of  character,  and 
assist  in  developing  that  which  is  latent.  In  corroboration 
of  an  idea  here  advanced,  Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  "  If  a  man 
takes  the  attitude  of  rage  he  will,  in  some  measure,  feel 
angry."  And  it  is  well  known  that  the  elder  Booth,  than 
whom  no  one  ever  performed  Richard  the  Third  better, 
would  so  completely  identify  himself  with  the  subject  as, 
for  the  time  being,  actually  to  imagine  himself  the  king. 

JViattie  had  now  attained  to  her  full  stature,  and  was  a 
tall  and  splendidly  proportioned  woman.  The  Douglas 
blood  showed  itself  in  her  too.  True,  she  was  not  classi- 
cally beautiful  in  feature,  but  the  fire  of  genius  lighted  her 
eye  and  wreaths  of  sweetness  encircled  her  mouth  ;  her 
port  was  noble,  her  form  majestic;  a  lady  in  principle,  in 
manners,  in  education,  in  appearance.  No  wonder  was  it, 
then,  that  the  heart  of  the  dwarfish,  insignificant  Ursa 
Minor  ate  itself  out  with  envy  and  chagrin  at  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  sphere  she  coveted  of  so  splendid  a  rival. 
Ursa  Minor's  father, — I  suppose  Ursa  Major, — Reverend 
John,  rallied  quite  a  little  panic  to  the  rescue,  poked  up 
quite  a  smart  whirlwind,  but  did  not  ascend  in  it ;  only 
proved  by  it  that  his  daughter  was  the  foremost  scholar 
in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jarpot's  school,  and  therefore  was  entitled 
to  the  most  exalted  promotion. 

Don't  infer,  dear  friend,  that  we  have  any  antipathy  to 
the  clerical  profession  because  we  so  frequently  drag  be- 
fore you  the  prefix  Rev.     We  assure  you  that  such  is  not 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  14 9 

the  ease;  wo  arc  writing  from  life;  our  characters  are  be- 
fore us,  living,  breathing  beings.  Did  we  call  them  by 
the  names  they  usually  bear,  you  would  at  once  identify 
the  group,  and  we  hope  you  will,  notwithstanding  the 
noms  de  plume  they  wear.  And,  my  reverend  reader,  if 
I  should  ever  have  so  distinguished  an  honor,  do  not  ap- 
prehend that  you  are  the  party  slurred  at,  unless,  indeed, 
you  are  the  veritable  Bear. 

Well,  Ursa  Major  proved  that  Ursa  Minor  was  the  fore- 
most scholar  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jarpot's  school,  and  that  she 
could  recite  whole  volumes  of  history,  and  could  write 
compositions  wonderful  in  length,  and  breadth,  and  wind, 
and  words,  and  was  such  an  astonishing  elocutionist  that 
when  she  read,  the  dogs  howled  in  unison,  mistaking  the 
tones  of  the  reader's  voice  for  the  cry  of  one  of  their  kindred 
in  distress.  But  without  a  single  effort  on  Mattie's  part, 
she  was  triumphantly  placed  in  the  position  so  earnestly 
coveted  by  the  erudite  Miss  Ursa  Minor,  and  so  vigorously 
strained  after  by  her  reverend  father,  whose  anxiety  was 
occasioned  by  the  fact  that  a  few  additional  dollars  were 
the  crowning  glory  of  the  post;  and  this  man  of  heaven- 
ward tendencies  "  wore  the  world  as  so  loose  a  garment 
that  he  could  envelop  in  its  ample  folds  the  five  zones  and 
yet  find  room  for  the  poles." 

The  corps  of  operatives  being  complete  in  number,  the 
Education  Factory  again  sped  on,  with  its  flimsy  warp  and 
woof,  with  its  sizing  that  would  not  stick,  with  its  gloss 
that  would  wear  off,  with  its  flaunting  colors  that  would 
fade  out, — all  being  put  in  on  the  high-pressure  principle. 

The  Western  Factory  also  underwent  a  change,  and  again 
clipper-clappered,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Robert  Fizzle, 
A.M.,  and  his  baud  of  female  coadjutors,  foremost  among 
whom  was  the  renowned  Becky  Sharp,  whose  acquaint- 

13* 


150  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

ance  it  is  necessary  to  make  in  order  to  understand  the 
story,  and  for  an  introduction  to  this  representative  lady 
we  are  indebted  to  William  Makepeace  Thackeray,  Esq. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

MR.  SLYTICKLE  WANTS  A  PRESENT. 

"  Doubtless  the  pleasure  is  as  great 
Of  being  cheated  as  to  cheat. 
As  lookers-on  feel  most  delight 
That  least  perceive  the  juggler's  sleight ; 
And  still  the  less  they  understand, 
The  more  admire  his  sleight  of  hand." 

I 

The  entrance  of  Mattie  into  the  Eastern  Education 
Factory  was  hailed  with  delight,  not  only  by  her  pupils, 
many  of  whom  were  there,  but  also  by  the  public.  It  was 
expected  that  great  and  important  results,  beneficial  to 
the  cause  of  education,  would  grow  out  of  the  change. 
Such  did  grow  luxuriantly,  and,  if  not  important  to  the 
cause  of  education,  so  to  Mattie,  at  least.  This  one  step 
changed  her  whole  subsequent  life,  and  gave  to  it  a  com- 
plexion that  it  otherwise  never  could  have  had.  "By 
threads  innumerable  our  destiny  is  woven." 

We  must  see  at  a  glance  that  two  such  natures  as  Mat- 
tie's  and  Slytickle's  could  no  more  exist  together  harmo- 
niously than  could  frost  and  fire, — she,  all  honor ;  he,  all 
villainy ;  she,  all  honest  work;  he,  all  humbuggery  ;  she, 
all  nature  ;    he,  all  art. 

Said  Slytickle,  "Miss  Douglas,  not  long  since  my  class 
made  me  a  present  of  a  watch,  and  now  I  want  a  chain, 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  151 

or,  at  leapt,  my  wife  does,  for  she  wears  the  watch. 
Well,  I  don't  like  to  ask  the  chain  of  my  class  so  soon 
after  having  received  the  watch  ;  but,  as  your  class  has 
not  given  me  anything,  it  might  give  me  the  chain  ;  but, 
though  I  give  you  this  hint,  yet  I  don't  mean  anything. 
Isow,  you  are  a  great  favorite  with  your  class,  and  you 
ladies  know  how  to  manage  those  things  very  neatly  ;  but, 
remember,  I  don't  mean  anything!" 

Mattie,  poor  girl,  was  innocent  and  unsophisticated;  she 
looked  at  things  from  a  newer  point  of  view  than  that  from 
which  the  majority  of  the  world  view  them,  and  the  re- 
quest of  her  Principal  bewildered  her.  Her  earnest,  deep- 
set  eyes  dilated  with  wonder.  If  he  had  asked  her  to  pick 
the  girls'  pockets,  she  could  scarcely  have  been  more  as- 
tonished. 

She  replied,  in  her  honest,  straightforward  way,  "  Why, 
sir,  I  would  not  have  a  present  that  had  to  be  asked  for  ; 
and,  besides,  our  pupils  are  all  poor  children,  many  of  them 
orphans,  whose  widowed  mothers  can  scarcely  clothe  and 
feed  them  while  trying  to  give  them  a  little  education.  I 
wTould  rather  present  you  with  the  requisite  amount  out  of 
my  own  pocket  than  to  ask  these  poor  children  for  it." 

"  But,  Miss  Douglas,  I  will  let  you  into  a  secret,  but 
mind,  I  don't  mean  anything  by  it ;  yet,  the  present  is  not 
my  only  motive  (although  I  shall  have  no  peace  from  my 
wife  until  I  get  her  the  chain) ;  and  the  secret  is  :  I  want 
the  present  to  affect  public  opinion.  It  makes  a  teacher 
look  well  before  the  world  to  receive  presents,  and  I  want 
to  make  Fizzle,  of  the  Western  Factory,  fizzle  with  jealousy 
of  my  popularity;  then,  besides,  Seeker  will  see  an  ac- 
count of  the  affair  in  the  papers,  and  he  will  feel  that 
he  is  not  regretted  ;  and  you  cannot  think  what  a  triumph 
that  would  be  for  me !  1  did  so  hate  that  man  !  He  kept 
me  at  such  a  distance  ;  he  treated  me  like  I  was  a  snake  ; 


152  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

and  I  did  run  him  out  of  the  grass,  and  so  I  will  all  who 
go  counter  to  my  wishes.  I  am  head  of  this  institution, 
and  I  shall  assert  my  claim  to  obedience,  prompt  and  im- 
plicit." This  with  a  scowling  look,  and  brows  ever  so 
much  knit  into  clouds. 

"I  have  really  no  tact  in  such  matters,  and  I,  for  various 
reasons,  would  rather  that  you  assign  the  business  to 
another,"  said  Mattie. 

"And  I,  for  various  reasons,  assign  it  to  you,"  replied 
Mr.  Sly  tickle,  with  great  earnestness. 

"  I  regret  that  you  do,"  she  replied,  "because  I  cannot 
undertake  it." 

"Well,  I  will  let  you  into  a  secret,  but  mind,  I  don't 
mean  anything:  only  you  get  part  of  the  money,  and  I 
will  give  an  excursion  and  raise  the  rest." 

"An  excursion  ?" 

"Yes,  an  excursion.  Sell  tickets  at  twenty-five  cents, 
gather  in  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry  ; — what  do  I  care,  so 
that  I  get  the  chain  to  stop  my  wife's  tongue  with  ?  I 
wish  all  the  women's  tongues  could  be  chained  ;  but  mind, 
I  don't  mean  anything.  So  now,  Miss  Douglas,  you  just 
help  me  in  this  matter,  and  one  of  these  days  I  will  get 
up  a  present  for  you." 

"  I  do  not  want  a  present,"  she  replied,  rather  haughtily. 
"  I  would  not  accept  one  that  had  to  be  obtained  by  manage- 
ment. To  make  a  present  from  my  class  acceptable  to  me, 
it  would  have  to  be  spontaneous;  simply  the  tangible  ex- 
ponent of  feelings  which  I  would  appreciate,  but  not  the 
present  for  its  own  sake." 

"Your  ideas  are,  no  doubt,  very  beautiful  and  very  re- 
freshing, Miss  Douglas,"  said  Sly  tickle,  sarcastically, 
"but  a  little  behind  the  age.  You  are  rather  fresh  from 
the  country,  I  believe;  when  you  have  seen  more  of  the 
world  you  will  modify  your  romantic  sentiments,  and  be- 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  153 

come  like  the  rest  of  us  poor  earth-born  mortals,  who  can- 
not afford  to  live  in  the  clouds.  But,  to  cut  the  matter 
short,  I  must  and  will  have  the  present." 

"  I  think  he  means  that,"  Mattie  soliloquized,  smiling  in 
spite  of  her  vexation. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

TIIE     PLEASURE     EXCURSION. 

"  Pleasures  are  few,  and  fewer  we  enjoy  ; 
Pleasure,  like  quicksilver,  is  bright  and  coy: 
We  strive,  we  grasp  it  with  our  utmost  skill. 
If  seized  at  last,  compute  your  nightly  gains, 
What  is  it  but  rank  poison  in  your  veins  ?" 

The  steamer  Osiris  is  freighted  with  its  precious  burden 
of  human  life,  and  gallantly,  proudly,  as  if  conscious  of  the 
valuable  charge,  bears  away  down  the  river  and  bay,  and, 
snorting  self-complacently,  disembarks  the  cargo  of  youth 
and  beauty  at  the  sequestered  nook  selected  for  the  picnic. 

The  pleasure-party  has  been  anticipated  by  those  in- 
terested, and  tables  are  spread  about  the  grounds,  covered 
with  various  things,  both  sweet  and  bitter.  With  creams 
and  rare  confections,  with  cards  and  cakes,  with  ice-water 
to  cool  the  body,  and  fire-water  to  burn  and  blister  the 
soul.  The  billiard-tables  are  decorated,  and  the  dominoes 
rattle  their  siren  song.  Gangs  of  professional  gamblers 
are  on  the  spot,  come  to  look  at  the  pretty  girls,  and  re- 
lieve their  brothers,  lovers,  and  friends  of  any  loose  change 
they  may  have  about  them.  A  level  green  is  selected  for 
the  dance,  swings  are  hung,  jumping-ropes  uncoiled,  grace- 
hoops  produced;  and  now  the  amusements  of  the  occasion 


154  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

are  in  full  blast,  Music  from  on  board  the  boat  is  removed 
to  the  shore,  and  soon  the  dancers'  feet  keep  time  to  the 
rise  and  fall  of  its  voluptuous  measure.  We  will  walk 
round  and  view  the  various  methods  of  enjoyment — of 
pleasure.  We  are  an  isolated  spectator,  we  have  no  fair 
one  in  charge,  though  we  have  charge  of  a  fair  one,  but 
she  is  at  home ;  we  would  not  bring  her  here,  we  would 
not  permit  the  air,  contaminated  by  these  vulgar  scenes,  to 
kiss  her  pure  cheek.  Faugh  !  what  a  horrid  smell  of  rum 
and  whisky,  of  brandy-punch  and  abominable  gin-cocktails  ! 
The  air  has  grown  sullen  because  of  its  overburden,  and 
refuses  to  remove  the  stench.  And  those  fearful  oaths ! 
How  dreadful  !  We  involuntarily  clasp  our  hands  upon 
our  ears  to  shut  out  the  fiendish  imprecations.  Our  eyes, 
too,  weary  with  the  sight  of  cards,  and  dice,  and  dominoes, 
and  all  the  various  machinery  of  the  Evil  One,  used  to  catch 
and  keep  unguarded  youth.  Here  bo}^s  and  men  at  play 
shout  out  deep  roaring  oaths  or  mutter  rumbling  curses; 
the  vulgar  jests  rebound  from  lip  to  lip,  the  broad  insinua- 
tion that  lights  on  all  like  summer  gnats,  but  leaves  a 
deeper  sting-spot,  floats  free  as  air.  We  turn  with  loath- 
ing from  the  place  and  seek  relief  for  our  oppressed  feelings 
in  a  change  of  scene,  so  we  roam  to  other  parts  of  the  field 
of  pleasure  ! 

Here  is  a  swing,  but  our  head  grows  dizzy  as  we  look 
to  what  a  giddy  height  the  strong  arm  of  that  athletic 
youth  hurls  the  seat  in  which  is  placed  thai  fragile  girl, 
while  he  curiously  peeps  beneath  her  ballooning  skirts  to 
cateli  a  Bight  of  her  garters.  If  her  head  should  swim,  or 
her  blood  tingle  with  indignation  as  ours  dors,  she  may 
fall  from  the  elevation  which  affords  her  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  Surrounding  landscape,  and  if  she  fall,  she  must  be 
dashed  to  pieces.  We  turn  away  lest  we  witness  some 
such  catastrophe. 


♦ 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  155 


Yonder  stroll  a  pair — lovers  it  would  seem, — one  is  Miss 
Asp,  the  pet  pupil  of  Mr.  Sly  tickle, — they  plunge  deeper 
into  the  forest,  seeking-  in  its  cool  shade  the  pleasure  of 
uninterrupted  converse,  receiving-  honey  in  the  ear  that 
may  turn  to  vinegar  in  the  heart.  We  dare  not  join  these, 
so  we  join  the  spectators  of  the  dance. 

"  I  say  you  are  a  liar !  She  is  a  Pointer,  and  the  prettiest 
girl  on  the  ground,"  cries  Sam  Smith. 

11 1  say  you  are  another ;  she  is  not  a  Pointer,  but  an 
Old  Towner,  and  she  is  not  half  so  pretty  as  Bet  Brunette," 
cries  Tom  Trump;  "and  if  you  want  to  fight  about  it,  I 
am  your  man,  and  ready  for  all  of  your  cowardly  Screw- 
bolt  crew.    "NV — h — 000!   wh — 000!" 

Thus  summoned,  the  members  of  the  club,  of  which  this 
horrid  whoop  was  the  war-cry,  came  crowding  round,  and 
rudely  pushing  all  other  spectators  aside,  took  possession 
of  the  battle-ground.  A  desperate-looking  character  ad- 
vanced to  the  Screwbolt,  and  whispered  in  his  ear, 
"  There  are  more  of  us  than  of  them  on  the  ground  ;  chal- 
lenge him,  and  we'll  give  every  infernal  imp  of  'em  brim- 
stone." 

Thus  abetted  and  encouraged,  the  Screwbolt  hurled  him- 
self at  the  Cold-Chisel, — "  Come  ou,  you  mean,  cowardly, 
bullying,  gouging  villains!  I'm  your  man,  I'll  thrash 
every  murdering  brute  among  you;  come  on,  I  say!" 

The  Screwbolt  now  makes  a  little  run,  and  utters  the 
fiendish  yell  which  is  the  war-cry  of  his  club.  The  Cold- 
Chisel  gives  the  signal  to  his  club  in  tones  equally  appall- 
ing, and  he  and  Sam  clinch. 

"Fair  play  on  all  sides!"  scream  members  of  the  rival 
chilis. 

The  Cold-Chisel  seems  likely  to  cut  his  way  through 
the  Screwbolt,  when  another  Screwbolt  comes  to  his 
relief,  and  now  the  fight  becomes  general.     Pistols  crack, 


156  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

girls  scream,  }Tells  and  curses  break  from  members  of 
the  rival  clubs,  each  cheering-,  inciting  the  other  to  des- 
perate and  bloody  fray.  We  turn  from  the  revolting  sight, 
heartsick  with  contemplating  the  degradation  of  our  race; 
and  as  Tom  Trump's  insensible  body  is  borne  along  to  the 
boat,  we  instinctively  follow,  and,  taking  our  station  by  the 
side  of  the  wounded  man,  probe  for  the  ball,  and  render 
him  all  the  assistance  in  our  power. 

"  Your  brute  of  a  beast  has  killed  my  sweetheart  I"  cries 
Bell  Blond. 

"And  your  beast  of  a  brute  has  shivered  the  timbers  of 
my  best  lover,  and  by  the  infernal  furies,  I'll  pay  you  for 
it  I"  replies  Bet  Brunette. 

The  rival  beauties  now  pitch  into  each  other  like  two 
colliding  locomotives  ;  torn  bonnets,  flying  hair,  naked 
bosoms,  cries  and  tears  distinguish  this  onset,  until  persons 
interfere,  and,  separating  the  belligerents,  compel  them  on 
board  the  boat  to  refit  their  dress  and  cool  their  tempers. 

Ten  or  a  dozen  men  are  wounded  in  the  melee,  and  some 
of  them  so  badly  that  it  is  thought  necessary  to  re-embark 
the  party  and  make  for  the  city  with  all  the  speed  of 
steam.  Many  a  sorrowful  heart  this  pleasure-party  will 
occasion.  On  the  way  back  to  the  city,  to  enliven  the 
company  and  drive  away  the  blues,  the  music  is  again 
struck  up,  and  again  the  dancers'  heels  resound  upon  the 
deck.  The  rival  beauties  right  up  a  little  their  dress, 
plaster  their  scratches,  and  enter  the  list  as  competitors 
for  invitations,  and  actually  dance  over  the  heads  of  the 
youths  who  are  dying — who  have  died  in  defense  of  their 
worthless  charms.  Worthless  we  say,  for  what  is  phy- 
sical beauty  alone?  It  is  the  least  attraction  a  woman 
can  possess,  and  only  attracts  the  sensual,  who  select  the 
casket  for  its  gilded  exterior,  regardless  of  the  circumstance 
whether  or  not  a  jewel  lies  within. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  157 

Thus,  amid  drinking,  swearing,  gambling,  fighting, 
amid  floods  of  rum  and  forests  of  oaths,  the  young  ladies 
of  the  Eastern  Female  Education  Factory  were  receiving 
their  first  impressions  of  life  and  morality.  Young  minds, 
soft  and  pliant  as  ginger  dough,  ay,  and  as  sweet,  too,  if 
properly  handled,  are  thus  being  shaped  for  use  by  the 
devil's  cake-cutter.  And  thus,  as  Committeeman  A  said, 
"  they  are  being  prepared  to  represent  the  fair  daughters 
of  this  fair  land  to  far-distant  nations  of  Orient  hue,  or 
the  island  that  lies  like  a  drop  of  dew  on  the  mane  of  the 
dandy-lion." 

Mattie  was  not  invited  to  the  picnic,  because  she  was 
"insubordinate"  to  superiors  in  not  extracting  money 
from  the  pockets  of  beggars, — money  with  which  to  pur- 
chase gold  chains  and  popularity  for  Mr.  I-tickle-you-you- 
tickle-me-and-we'11-tickle-them-all-so-sly. 

We  mentioned  as  being  at  the  excursion  a  beautiful  Miss 
Asp,  the  pet  pupil  of  this  most  excellent  of  principals  ! 
She  disappeared  from  society  a  short  time  after  that  day  of 
pleasure ;  but  did  not  make  her  dreadful  exit  until  having 
been  used  as  an  engine  of  torture  to  Mattie.  She  had 
blackened  her  poor  soul  with  lies,  and  stained  it  so  deeply 
that  even  Jordan  could  not  wash  it  clean. 

"  Where  is  she  F"  ask  the  wild  shrieks  of  a  heart-broken 
mother. 

"  Where  ?"  asks  the  deep  curse  as  it  rolls  from  the  lips 
of  her  exasperated  father. 

Ask  the  same  question  ye  who  may  speak  in  thunder- 
tones  at  the  ballot-box,  and  ask  of  those  who  have  charge 
of  our  halls  of  learning.  Yes,  ask  of  those  who,  like  the 
corpse-worm  rioting  in  corruption,  riot  in  the  public  heart 
and  grow  fat ! 

14 


158  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE   STAR-CHAMBER   COMMITTEE, 

"  To  hold  a  place 
In  council,  which  was  once  esteemed  an  honor 
And  a  reward  for  virtue,  hath  quite  lost 
Lustre  and  reputation,  and  is  made 
A  mercenary  purchase." 

Change  is  written  on  all  things  here  below,  but  on 
nothing  more  legibly  than  on  polities  and  politicians.  I 
suppose  the  doctrine  of  rotation  in  power  is  the  correct 
one;  but  whenever  I  hear  it  advanced,  somehow  it  always 
brings  to  my  mind  the  fable  of  the  fox  and  the  flies.  How- 
ever, it  is  not  our  intention  at  this  time  to  discuss,  but 
only  to  relate  ;  and  now  it  was  that  one  of  those  political 
whirlwinds,  which  occasionally  sweep  over  the  country, 
rushed  through  and  swept  the  ins  out  and  the  outs  in,  and 
produced  a  change  in  all  the  various  ramifications  of  city 
government,  including  the  Education  Factories. 

Mattie  was  now  shorn  of  her  friends  in  the  School 
Board  and  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  her  enemies,  for 
little  as  she  deserved  enemies,  such  she  had, — who  has 
not  ?  Slytickle  was  her  enemy  because  he  could  not  use 
her,  and  Miss  Ursa  Minor  was  her  enemy  because  she, 
Mattie,  had  superseded  that  self-complacent  lady  in  a 
coveted  position.  Thus  Mattie  was  like  a  tree  standing 
alone  in  the  midst  of  a  field,  unsheltered,  unsupported, 
wit  1)  the  lightning  of  Slytickle  playing  around  its  trunk, 
ready  to  strike  without  a  moment's  warning,  and  the  Ursa 
Minor — a  beast  that  murders  while  it  hugs — gnawing  at 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  159 

the  root.  Alas  for  poor  Mattie !  The  assassin  who  lurks 
and  waits  for  his  opportunity  to  strike  will  find  it. 

The  new  committee  now  placed  in  charge  of  the  Factories 
we  designate  as  "  Star- Chamber," — and  when  its  secret 
doings  are  exposed,  all  must  admit  the  term  is  not  so 
11  malapropos"  as  at  first  sight  they  might  suppose.  That 
nefarious  tribunal — worthy  of  the  monarch  in  whose  reign 
it  flourished — is  not  yet  quite  extinct,  and  there  are  more 
star-chamber  courts  in  the  world  than  those  happily  re- 
moved from  their  influence  imagine. 

The  names  of  the  parties  composing  this  committee 
were  as  follows :  Chairman,  Mr.  Thomas  Abbettor,  first 
in  trick,  first  in  trade,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  ilk  ; 
Mr.  George  Woodmouse,  that  poor  creature  who  crept  in 
and  out  the  mayor's  office ;  Doctor  Huntemup!  We  do 
not  know  where  he  received  his  diploma,  but  certain  it  is 
he  never  ventured  further  in  his  profession  than  a  blue- 
pill  or  a  bowl  of  salts ;  and  as  to  his  veracity,  if  he  had 
asserted  that  the  sun  rose  in  the  east  and  set  in  the  west 
that  fact  would  have  been  instantly  doubted.  Yet  this 
man  was  prominent  in  home  missions,  causeway  schools, 
and  benevolent  societies;  one  fact,  however,  is  significant, 
he  never  was  made  treasurer !  And  last,  though  not  least, 
was  that  wonderful  bald-headed  Box,  who  dealt  alike  in 
mattresses  and  musical  instruments.  We  ask  pardon  for 
this  allusion  to  the  man's  baldness,  and  would  not  have 
made  it  only  for  the  manner  in  which  it  was  obtained.  He 
was  an  old  campaigner  in  school  battles,  and  had  thought 
all  the  hair  off  his  head  in  scheming  to  excoriate  refractory 
teachers  who  had  the  audacity  to  decline  truckling  to  him 
on  all  occasions.  This  nondescript  animal  had,  however, 
some  of  the  attributes  of  human  nature,  for,  like  Lord 
Steyne,  he  had  a  great  weakness  for  Becky  Sharp  ! 

And    now  it   becomes   our   painful   duty  to  introduce 


160  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

another, — "what  shall  we  call  it?"  But  the  pain  is  not 
caused  by  the  fact  that  we  have  no  name  sufficiently  char- 
acteristic by  which  to  salute  our  new  acquaintance,  but 
from  that  other  rankling  barb,  the  stern  necessity  of  telling 
that  he  belongs  to  the  class  who  are  called  ministers  of  the 
gospel  !  Not  in  disrespect  to  his  cloth,  but  for  his  sweet 
sake  alone  we  would  gladly  leave  him  out  of  sight,  only 
that  our  story  would  be  incoherent  without  his  presence. 
The  official  relation  of  this  person  to  the  School  Board,  as 
treasurer  of  the  funds,  gave  him  a  pretext  for  pragmati 
cal  interference  in  school  affairs,  and  his  itching  proclivi- 
ties incited  him  to  escalade  movements  for  power  as  well 
as  pay.  His  Napoleonic  ambition  scorned  to  serve,  and 
as  he  could  brook  no  service,  he  must  either  rule  or  rot!  We 
cannot  help  it,  friends ;  we  did  not  make  him  a  reverend 
or  a  conspirator ;  but  since  he  is  both,  look  at  him  a  little, 
and  then  we  will  tell  you  about  somebody  else.  The  his- 
tory of  all  great  men  is  refreshing,  and  perhaps  Parton,  of 
the  New  York  Ledger,  whose  sketches  of  such  we  have 
much  enjoyed,  may  take  up  that  of  these,  and,  soaring1 
where  we  sink,  tell  how  those  worthies  died ;  we  can  but 
tell  how  they  lived* 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  161 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

REV.    JOHN   M'GILHOOTER. 

"Bartering  his  venal  wit  for  sums  of  gold, 
He  east  himself  into  the  saintlike  mould: 
Groaned,  sighed,  and  prayed  while  godliness  was  gain, 
The  loudest  bagpipe  of  the  squeaking  train." 

A  cabinetmaker's  shop  was  situated  in  a  certain  alley 
that  faced  the  rear  of  a  church  and  parsonage.  The 
worthy  pastor  of  the  flock  worshiping  in  this  church  made 
frequent  visits  to  the  shop  and  held  long  conversations 
with  the  workmen.  Often  he  talked  on  ordinary  subjects, 
but  more  frequently  on  those  of  serious  import. 

11  Peradventure,"  said  the  old  soldier  of  the  cross,  "  '  a 
shaft  from  a  bow  drawn  at  a  venture'  may  strike  between 
the  joints  of  the  harness." 

The  work  done  at  the  shop  was  itself  suggestive  of 
serious  thought,  and  such  opportunities  were  always  im- 
proved by  this  visitor  to  lead  the  minds  of  those  present 
to  the  consideration  of  important  truths.  Laying  his 
hand  upon  a  coffin  in  course  of  construction,  he  would 
contrast  the  simplicity  of  this  last  receptacle  of  earth's 
ambitious  sons  with  the  ostentatious  dwellings  they  love  to 
inhabit,  and  which,  in  towering  pride,  rear  their  bold  fronts 
in  the  face  of  heaven,  rank  with  the  blood  of  souls. 
"  Look,"  said  the  aged  minister  of  Christ,  "  at  this  narrow 
house  of  four  corners,  a  lining  and  a  pillow;  in  this  man- 
sion no  gorgeous  suites  of  apartments  are  prepared  for 
the  sumptuous  entertainment  of  the  owner's  guests.     The 

14* 


162  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

social  worm  is  his  only  companion,  and  he  is  so  humbled 
as  not  to  recoil  from  the  loathsome  embrace,  but  permits 
the  reptile  to  wanton  in  those  charms  of  face  and  person 
to  which  he  himself  had  bowed  in  adoration  and  owned 
no  greater  God.    In  building  this  house,  you  make  no  pro- 
vision for  luxurious  baths  to  purify  and  cleanse  the  pam- 
pered  flesh ;   ah,  no  I   the  inhabitant  festers  in   his  own 
corruption,  and  asks  neither  stergent  nor  perfume.     No 
well-filled  larder  for  honorable  guests  is  here  prepared ; 
the  host  is  himself  the  larder  for  an  uninvited  company 
that  cling  to  his  lips,  take  quite  away  his  hand,  and  riot 
in  the  inmost  recesses  of  his  heart.     They  are  not  needed 
here,  windows  of  variegated  glass,  to  cast  a  dazzling  and 
deceptive  hue  on  the  inhabitants  within  ;  even  the  beauti- 
ful  windows   of  the    soul,    those   reflectors   of  immortal 
thought,  into  whose  depths  we  all  so  much  love  to  gaze,  are 
closed  in  darkness,  and,  drooping  their  curtains,  securely 
veil  the  secrets  of  their  master's  fate.    And,  ah  !  my  friends, 
what  is  his  fate  ? — that's  the  great  consideration.     Is  he 
like  Lazarus,  sheltered  from  all  the  ills  that  checkered  an 
eventful  life  in  Abraham's  bosom,  or  when  removed  to  this 
narrow  house  that  you  prepare,  must  his  horror-stricken 
spirit  cry,    '  Farewell,   happy  fields  of  life, — hail  horrors, 
hail  infernal  world ! — and  thou,  profoundest  hell,  receive 
thy  new  possessor'  ?" 

Thus  did  this  earnest  laborer  in  his  Master's  cause  sow 
the  seeds  of  suggestive  thought  and  serious  reflection  by 
the  highways  and  byways  of  life,  if  happily  he  might 
harvest  for  the  bundle  of  his  Lord. 

Among  the  workmen  employed  in  this  shop  wras  John 
McGilhooter,  or  as  his  brother  chips  contemptuously  called 
him,  Jack  and  Gill.  lie  was  not  liked  by  his  fellow-work- 
men on  account  of  the  fractious  and  envious  disposition 
he  evinced  ;  constantly  complaining,  and  hearteating  every- 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  163 

body's  success,  lie  seemed  to  view  all  things  in  life  through 
a  prism  of  green  and  yellow  jealousy.    When  sent  to  con- 
vey a  coffin,  per  order,  if  to  a  poor  man's  house  the  homely 
structure  of  pine  belonged,  that  could  not  excite  his  jaun- 
diced envy;  but  the  cents  upon  the  dead  man's  eyes  stirred 
up  his  bitterest  bile,  and   he  would  exclaim  to  his  fellow- 
workmen,  "  Why  this  useless  display  of  money?     If  the 
fellow  won't  keep  his  eyes  shut  without  being  bribed  to  it, 
why,  let  him  lay  and  stare."    If  to  the  residence  of  wealth 
his  business  procured  him  admission,  he  glared  with  an 
evil  eye   upon  every  external   evidence  of  opulence   and 
refinement.     The  long  piece  of  crape  floating  at  the  door 
would  excite  his  wrath,  and  call  forth  a  querulous  whine. 
"  I   do  not   see,"  he  would   exclaim,   "  why  people  who 
have  more  money  than  they  have  use  for,  do  not  put  it  into 
a  common  fund  for  those  who  have  none.    The  cost  of  this 
coffin  alone,  that  is  to  go  into  the  ground  and  nobody  see 
it,  with  its  silver  plate  and  handles,  its  screws  and  velvet 
outside  and  satin  in, — just  the  cost  of  this  coffin  alone  would 
set  a  poor  man  up  in  business ;  but  selfish  and  self-suffi- 
cient wealth  never  thinks  of  pinching  poverty.     I  hope  to 
Heaven  the  rich  will  find  the  camel's  eye  an  infernally 
tight  place,  and  Jordan  a  devilish  road  to  travel  !"     Like 
the  thievish   Judas,  who  exclaimed,   "Why  was  all  this 
waste  of  precious  ointment?   why  was  its  value  not  given 
to  the  poor?"  was  John  McGilhooter;  not  that  he  cared 
for  the  poor,  but  because  of  his  envious  and  avaricious 
heart. 

When  a  man  has  joyful  or  boastful  news  to  communi- 
cate he  goes  to  his  club  with  it,  no  matter  where  that 
club  may  meet,  perhaps  at  the  corner  of  the  street,  under 
the  "gas-light,"  or  in  apartments  that  cost  thousands  of 
dollars  to  furnish,  and  into  which  it  will  cost  hundreds  to 
gain   admission, — no   matter   where   the  club  meets  but 


164  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

there  he  takes  his  pleasant  face.  On  the  contrary,  let  sor- 
row overtake  him ;  let  discontent  gnaw  at  his  heart ;  let 
him  have  spleen  to  disgorge ;  ah,  yes!  then  he  goes  to  his 
wife  !  She,  poor  creature,  must  bear  his  burden  of  life 
and  her  own. 

"  Well !"  exclaimed  John  McGilhooter,  throwing  him- 
self into  a  chair,  "  wife,  I  don't  know  what  the  Almighty 
ever  made  this  world  for,  anyhow;  for  my  part,  I  am  tired 
of  life  ;  I  hate  this  world  and  everybody  in  it." 

"  Poor  compliment  to  me,"  said  the  meek  little  wife,  a 
sickly  smile  fainting  on  her  lips. 

He  continued:  "I  have  come  to  the  determination  to 
make  an  effort  to  retrieve  my  fortune ;  I  am  tired  of  a  life 
of  labor,  and  I  mean  to  live  by  my  wits." 

"  So  that  we  live  better  than  we  do  now  I  shall  be 
glad,"  said  the  wife,  who  did  not  dare  to  contradict  him, 
though  her  heart  trembled  for  fear  that  he  contemplated 
the  desertion  of  herself  and  children.  "  What  do  you  in- 
tend doing  ?"  she  asked,  timidly. 

"I  intend  to  enter  one  of  the  learned  professions,  where 
fellows  make  money  easily,  and  are  respected  and  flattered, 
and  have  poor  devils  take  off  their  hats  to  them,  and  stand 
on  one  side  to  let  them  pass." 

John's  wife  looked  dreadfully  alarmed.  "  He  is  going 
deranged  ;  I  thought  it  would  come  to  this,"  was  her  pain- 
ful reverie. 

He  continued :  "  I  intend  to  be  a  clergyman,  because  it 
requires  less  ability  and  less  education  to  be  a  clergyman 
than  it  does  to  enter  either  of  the  so-called  learned  pro- 
fessions ;  and,  besides,  a  clergyman  has  more  influence  in 
society  than  most  other  men  :  he  has  the  ears  of  the 
women,  and  very  often  their  hearts,  too;  of  course,  then, 
he  is  a  great  man  with  plenty  of  money." 

"  He  is  getting  too  grand  for  me  and  the  children," 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  165 

thought  the  poor  little  wife,  the  meek  little  wife,  the 
alarmed  little  wife,  with  moistened  eyes;  "ami  we  shall 
be  east  oil'  like  an  old  snakeskin  when  he  comes  out  in  his 
grand  profession."  She  timidly  inquired:  "But,  John, 
how  do  you  expect  to  accomplish  all  this  ? — you  have 
neither  friends  nor  money." 

11 1  see  where  I  can  get  a  friend ;  I  intend  to  apply  for 
advice  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodman  ;  he  often  visits  our  shop 
and  gives  us  good  talk  about  heaven  and  all  that;  he  will 
be  only  too  happy  to  think  he  has  made  a  convert;  and  I 
mean  to  tell  him  I  am  under  concern  for  my  soul,  though, 
to  tell  the  truth,  my  body  gives  me  more  concern  than  my 
soul,  for  I  don't  know  that  I  have  one  ;  but  I  have  a  plan, 
at  any  rate,  and  I  mean  to  come  on  the  old  fellow  care- 
fully, and  after  awhile  I'll  tell  him  I  feel  a  call  to  preach 
the  gospel,  though  my  call  is  to  fill  my  pocket," — slapping 
his  pocket, — "  but  the  old  fellowr  will  be  so  happy  to  think 
he  has  accomplished  so  much,  and  'gathered  one  straw,' 
as  he  says,  '  for  the  bundle  of  his  Lord ;'  and  I  shall  be  so 
happy  to  think  I  sha'n't  have  to  work  any  more,  and  we'll 
both  be  so  happy  that  we'll  shake  hands  over  it,  and  shed 
tears  over  it,  and  the  old  fellow  will  pray  over  it,  and  I 
shall  laugh  over  it, — ha!  ha!  ha!"  And  John  ran  off 
laughing,  the  first  time  his  wife  had  heard  him  laugh  for 
years. 

"  Did  you  hear  the  news  ?"  said  one  of  the  workmen  at 
the  cabinetmaker's  shop,  running  in  rosy  with  fun  and 
glee. 

"No!  what?"  they  all  exclaimed. 

"  Why,  our  Gill  has  become  a  Pint, — Jack  is  studying 
divinity!  I  always  said  that  fellow  was  too  lazy  to 
work." 

"  We'll  all  go  and  hear  him  preach,"  spoke  the  work- 
men in  a  breath. 


166  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"  You  will  hear  him  read  what  some  one  else  has 
written ;  and  now  there  is  another  added  to  the  list  of 
clerical  loafers, — the  Rev.  John  McGilhooter,"  said  the 
first  speaker. 

Our  new  reverend  received  a  call,  after  having  passed 
through  the  mill ;  but  somehow  he  did  not  suit  the  con- 
gregation that  called  him,  and  he  was  so  entirely  neglected 
that  he  came  nearer  to  starvation  than  when  he  made 
coffins  for  a  living.  After  various  gyrations,  we  find  him 
Treasurer  to  the  Board  of  School  Commissioners,  and  at 
the  time  of  our  introduction,  straining  with  might  and 
main  after  the  General  Superintendence  of  the  School  Sys- 
tem in  Maryland  to  be  a  king  over  beggars!  the  highest 
ambition  of  this  plenipotentiary  of  Heaven. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

MR.    THOMAS   ABBETTOR. 

"  Which  is  the  villain  ?     Let  me  see  his  eyes, 
That  when  I  note  another  man  like  him 
I  may  avoid  him." 

A  man,  for  want  of  industry  and  a  trade,  reduced  to  the 
last  extremity  of  poverty,  and  finding  it  impossible  to  sup- 
port existence  longer  without  some  change  in  his  worldly 
condition,  hit  upon  the  following  expedient:  he  caused  his 
wife  to  go  forth  to  the  world  and  proclaim  the  death  of  her 
husband,  to  represent  her  condition  as  destitute  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  to  solicit  aid  in  any  and  every  shape.  The  plan 
succeeded;  the  woman  was  furnished  with  a  coffin,  with  a 
suit  of  clothes  in  which  to  dress  the  corpse,  and  with 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  167 

money  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  funeral. 
"She  could  not  bear,"  she  said,  "that  stranger  hands 
should  touch  the  much-loved  clay,"  so  by  herself  she 
dressed  the  body  in  its  burial-clothes,  and  laid  it  in  the 
coffin. 

All  day  long  the  kindly  neighbors  dropped  in  for  a  few 
moments  to  view  the  corpse,  to  speak  a  word  of  comfort  to 
the  sorrowing  widow,  and  to  leave  a  mite  of  means. 
"When  the  lonely  hours  of  darkness  arrived,  those  in  which 
ghosts  walk  the  earth,  the  dead  man  decamped,  and  took 
his  coffin  with  him.  With  this  last  he  cooked  his  break- 
fast, and  with  the  money  thus  obtained  he  purchased  rum, 
and,  renting  a  shanty  in  a  dissolute  part  of  the  city,  opened 
a  penny  grog-shop.  A  chalked  board  put  forth  in  front  of 
the  house  conveyed  the  information  that  "  rags  and  old 
iron"  were  bought  there. 

When  the  gains  increased  sufficiently  to  warrant  an  ex- 
tension of  business,  the  rag  merchant  bought  old  clothes, 
broken  pots,  patched  blankets,  and  eventually  he  bought 
anything  that  anybody  had  to  sell,  from  a  rusty  nail  to  a 
man's  soul.  He  found  the  business  a  profitable  one  ;  in  his 
hands  the  old  rags  turned  to  gold  ;  and  how  beautifully  he 
turned  the  penny,  the  following  incident  will  illustrate : 

Owners  of  property  in  Mr.  Abbettor's  neighborhood, 
loathing  to  come  in  contact  with  such  squalid  scenes,  gave 
to  that  gentleman,  who  applied  for  the  job,  the  collector- 
ship  of  rents.  This  kind  of  work  was  well  suited  to  his 
business  capacity;  noue  knew  better  than  Mr.  Abbettor 
how  to  squeeze  moisture  from  a  dry  pocket.  In  one  of  the 
little  huts  of  which  he  had  charge  there  lived  an  aged 
woman,  who  had  been  many  years  a  widow,  lonely  and 
childless,  poor  and  friendless.  The  deceased  husband  of 
this  woman  had  been  a  sailor,  and  worked  on  board  a 
steamer  ;  he  was  a  bright  fellow,  remarkable  for  his  agility, 


168  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

and  a  splendid  swimmer.  On  one  occasion,  among  the 
passengers  on  board  this  steamer,  was  a  gentleman,  who 
had  with  him  his  little  daughter,  a  child  some  six  )Tears 
old,  accompanied  by  its  nurse.  The  father,  of  course,  par- 
tially resigned  the  almost  infant  to  the  care  of  its  attend- 
ant, who  proved  unworthy  of  the  trust,  for,  unobserved, 
the  child  climbed  the  side  of  the  boat,  lost  its  balance,  and 
in  a  moment  more  would  have  been  food  for  fishes  had  not 
our  sailor  heard  the  plunge,  and,  plunging  after,  bore  back 
the  young  scion  to  the  arms  of  its  panic-stricken  nurse  and 
pale-as-death  father.  On  the  spot  the  father  gave  tangible 
evidence  of  his  deep  feeling:  he  presented  the  noble  sailor 
with  a  purse  well  filled,  and  that  not  being  sufficient  to 
empty  his  overflowing  heart,  he  added  his  elegant,  silver- 
mounted,  rosewood  dressing-case,  and  this  dressing-case  is 
now  our  subject.  It  was  unique  in  form,  and  superbly  fur- 
nished with  everything  pertaining  to  a  gentleman's  toilet. 
Sets  of  the  best  razors,  brushes  of  every  description,  shav- 
ing-boxes of  beautiful  workmanship,  silver-topped  bottles 
of  rare  perfume,  silver  toothpicks,  penknives,  paper-knives, 
then,  by  a  secret  spring,  there  opened  a  secretary  filled  with 
every  kind  of  material  necessary  for  writing, — except  the 
brains,  of  course.  This  elegant  and  useful  article,  that  had 
cost  hundreds  of  dollars,  in  the  first  flush  of  parental  grat- 
itude was  laid  at  the  poor  sailor's  feet.  Said  the  father, 
"J  have  nothing  too  good  for  him  who  rescued  my  little 
motherless  Alice  from  a  watery  grave." 

The  honest  recipient  is  long  since  dead,  the  money  long 
since  spent,  but  the  box  —  oh,  that  mute  yet  eloquent 
evidence  of  her  husband's  chivalry  ! — the  lone  widow  has 
kept  as  Bacredly  as  her  heart's  blood,  and  would  as  soon 
part  with  the  one  as  the  other.  Carefully  rolled  in  layers 
of  cotton,  and  wrapped  in  folds  of  flannel,  for  fear  the  en- 
vious air  would  rob  it  of  its  luster,  thai  box  was  laid  away 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  1G9 

like  a  loved  infant  is  laid  to  sleep.  Occasionally  it  was 
shown  to  visitors,  and  the  incident  of  the  presentation  told 
for  the  thousandth  time,  when,  with  a  smile  and  a  tear, 
the  widow  would  exclaim,  "Now,  was  not  my  husband  a 
noble,  manly  fellow  ?"  The  box  was  then  rewrapped  and 
kissed,  and  laid  away.  In  periods  of  deep  anxiety, — and 
those  were  many, — when  despair,  with  his  grim  frown, 
would  stare  the  lone  woman  almost  into  madness,  when 
sleepless  nights  were  added  to  starving  days,  she  would 
get  the  box,  lay  it  by  her  side,  cover  it  with  the  bedclothes, 
and,  with  her  arm  thrown  over  it,  at  last  soothed  by  the 
magic  of  its  touch,  sweetly  sleep  and  dream  of  other  days. 
The  memorial  of  his  valor  brought  back  such  memories 
of  the  loved  and  lost.  When  it  was  by  her  side,  the 
widow  seemed  to  feel  his  presence  still,  and  thought,  per- 
haps, he  yet  lingered  near  to  bless. 

The  winter  had  been  an  unusually  severe  one.  The 
old  woman  had  been  sick  and  unable  to  work;  everything 
she  possessed  had  been  sold  to  purchase  life, — everything 
except  the  precious  box.  Mr.  Abbettor,  as  we  said,  col- 
lected the  rent  of  the  wretched  kennel  occupied  by  the 
more  wretched  woman,  and  every  clay  found  him  at  the 
door,  eager  to  glean  a  part  of  whatever  the  hand  of  charity 
might  supply  to  the  invalid. 

If  a  kind  one  brought  a  pound  of  sugar  or  a  paper  of 
tea,  Mr.  Abbettor  must  have  part  to  help  pay  the  rent. 
He  sold  tea  and  sugar  by  the  cent's  worth,  and  these  small 
arrivals  suited  the  business  of  his  establishment  quite  as 
well  as  any.  One  day,  being  on  the  lookout,  he  saw  a 
lady  with  a  basket  on  her  arm  enter  the  lodging  of  the 
Biek  woman.  lie  knew  that  scraps  would  be  there  now, 
and  he  determined  to  have  his  share.  The  poor  old  creat- 
ure had  learned  to  dread  the  turkey-buzzard  that  came  to 
tear  away  the  cold  bones  dispensed  by  the  hand  of  charity, 

15 


HO  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

and  lately  she  had  been  in  the  habit  of  hiding  from  his 
rapacity  what  she  could  not  immediately  use.  He  sus- 
pected the  fact,  and  determined  to  be  even  with  the  "  old 
screw,"  as  he  called  her,  by  entering  the  place  before  the 
visitor  had  departed.  Ou  this  fatal  occasion  he  put  his 
resolve  into  practice.  The  ministering  angel  who  had 
come  with  good  cheer  this  time  had  been  more  than 
usually  bountiful,  and  the  heart  of  the  poor  sick  woman 
overflowed  with  gratitude.  She  felt,  as  noble  natures 
always  do,  a  desire  to  make  a  return  for  kindness,  and 
this  had  been  an  unusual  display.  But  what  had  the  des- 
titute woman  to  give  ?  Only  a  sight  of  the  precious  box. 
This,  then,  was  produced,  and  the  eloquent  declaimer  of  her 
husband's  fame  was  in  full  flood  of  glorious  recital  when 
— oh,  horrors!  whose  shadow  darkens  the  door? — Abbet- 
tor's!  The  sight  of  the  box  transfixed  him  to  the  spot, 
and  from  that  moment  its  fate  was  sealed.  Nothing  now 
would  pay  the  rent  but  that  box;  the  rent  must  be  paid, 
and  that  box  must  pay  it.  Day  and  night  he  haunted  the 
hut,  and  his  constant  howl  was  box,  box,  box! 

"  I  have  nothing  upon  God's  earth  left  me  now  but  that 
box,"  cried  the  poor  woman,  wringing  her  hands.  "Oh,  in 
his  holy  name,  let  me  keep  it  till  I  die  !  I  shall  not  live 
long,  and  I  did  intend  having  that  box  put  into  my  coffin 
and  buried  with  me;  but  if  you  will  let  me  keep  it  until  I 
die,  I  promise  it  to  you.  I  will  give  you  a  writing  to 
prove  it  is  yours  at  my  death.  But  let,  oh,  let  me  keep  it 
until  then!"  The  monster's  clutch  was  on  it,  and  as 
well  might  she  have  asked  a  hungry  tiger  to  release  his 
tongue  from  lapping  blood  as  to  ask  this  brute  in  human 
form  for  pity.  She  had  not  thought  to  place  the  precious 
relic  in  the  keeping  of  some  one  else  for  safety  (and  here 
was  her  mistake),  because  she  could  not  sometimes  sleep 
unless  it  was  by  her  side;  so  .Mr.  Abbettor,  by  violence, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  \*[\ 

gained  possession  of  the  prize,  and  bore  it  away  amid 
shrieks  and  wails  of  anguish  that  would  have  pierced  any 
heart  save  that  which  had  lain  in  a  coffin. 

The  next  charitable  visitor  found  the  old  woman  dead. 
The  loss  of  the  box  had  broken  her  heart,  had  severed  the 
last  tie  that  bound  her  to  existence.  The  poor,  weather- 
beaten  bark  could  bear  no  more ;  it  went  down  with  this 
last  surge  of  the  billow,  and  the  one  lonely,  frightened, 
fluttering  spirit  on  board  took  wing  to  join  its  messmate  on 
the  far-off  shore  where  Mr.  Abbettor  will  come  to  trouble 
it  no  more. 

Upon  obtaining  possession  of  the  elegant  appendage 
of  luxury,  Mr.  Abbettor  sent  it  up-town  to  a  fashionable 
variety  store  for  exhibition  and  sale.  A  lady  from  a  dis- 
tance was  making  purchases  in  the  store,  and  catching 
sight  of  the  case,  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  that  dressing-case  is 
the  perfect  image  of  one  owned  by  my  father,  and  which 
he  presented  to  a  sailor  who  saved  my  life.  I  shall  pur- 
chase it  for  a  present  to  my  husband.  What  do  you  ask 
for  it  ?"  she  inquired  of  the  shopman. 

"  Two  hundred  dollars,"  was  the  reply. 

"  La,  how  cheap  I"  exclaimed  the  lady,  as  she  counted  out 
the  money  and  gave  directions  for  the  delivery  of  the  case. 

And  thus  and  so,  beautifully  did  Mr.  Abbettor  turn  the 
pennies;  and  with  funds  thus  acquired  he  opened  a  policy 
office,  and  after  awhile,  by  means  of  the  "fool's  fence,"  he 
was  enabled  to  join  a  company  of  property  speculators. 

He  had  ere  this  emerged  from  his  den  of  rum  and  rags  ; 
and  now  he  purchased  a  fashionable  residence  in  a  fash- 
ionable part  of  the  city,  knocked  at  the  door  of  fashion- 
able society,  and  gained  admission.  Yes,  gained  admission 
into  society  that  would  have  considered  his  degraded  his- 
tory as  improbable  as  a  fairy  tale,  or  as  fit  entertainment 
only  for  an  Arabian's  night,  so  rapidly  did  Mr.  Abbettor 


172  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

make  his  tortuous  way — not  from  the  palace  to  the  coffin, 
as  is  the  usual  course  of  nature,  but  from  the  coffin  to  the 
palace!  When  we  next  hear  of  the  precious  scamp.it 
will  not  be  a  dying  old  woman,  but  Mattie  Douglas,  whom 
the  coffin-presser  and  palace  possessor  will  have  on  the 
tenter-hooks  of  torture  and  imposition. 


CHAPTER    XXXIY. 

LETTERS. 

"  Full  oft  have  letters  caused  the  writers 
To  curse  the  day  they  were  inditers." 

There  is  no  more  infallible  method  by  which  to  test  the 
relative  position  of  parties  than  by  reading  their  letters. 
A  letter  may  try  to  deceive,  but,  like  the  human  eye,  it 
speaks  a  language  unknown  to  itself,  and  only  deceives 
those  who  deceive  themselves,  by  disregarding  the  decisions 
of  their  better  judgment,  and  listening  to  the  siren  Hope. 
Read  the  letters  of  persons  socially  or  officially  connected, 
and  you  will  readily  discover  who  is  the  master  and  who 
the  servant.  Read  the  letters  of  pretending  lovers,  and 
you  can  soon  distinguish  the  loving  party  from  the  indif- 
ferent one,  no  matter  how  much  affectation  of  sentiment 
may  be  thrown  in.  Read  the  letters  of  professors  of  religion 
when  on  that  subject,  and  the  sincerity  of  the  one  or  hypoc- 
risy of  the  other  can  be  as  easily  distinguished  as  a  blush 
from  a  frown.  Such  volumes  do  letters  speak  that  experts 
of  the  present  day  say  they  can  tell  from  a  letter  the  age, 
sex,  social  habits, — in  short,  can  delineate  both  soul  and 
body  of  the  writer.     Beware  of  letters  ! 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  173 

Mr.  Abbettor  (Chairman  of  the  Educational  Committee) 
to  Mr.  Slytickle,  Principal  of  the  Eastern  Education  Fac- 
tory : 

"  Sir, — In  a  few  days,  my  friend,  Mr.  Jonathan  Toad- 
eater,  will  be  before  the  public  as  a  candidate  for  the  office 
of  Superintendent  of  the  Frog  Ponds  in  and  around  the 
city.  I  wish  you  to  give  him  all  the  assistance  in  your 
power,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  and  to  that  effect  you 
will  write  articles  for  publication  in  the  Daily  Humbug, 
and  such  articles  I  wish  forwarded  to  me  for  inspection 
previous  to  publication. 

11  Yours,  etc., 

"T.  M.  Abbettor." 

Mr.  Slytickle  to  Mr.  Abbettor  : 

"  My  very  dear  Sir, — Your  note  of  is  received, 

and  I  comply  most  cheerfully  with  your  commands  in  this 
as  in  everything  else.  Your  wish  is  my  law  in  all  things, 
and  I  am  happy  to  have  the  honor  to  be  your  most  obedi- 
ent humble  servant, 

"  X.  H.  Slytickle." 

Mr.  Abbettor  to  Mr.  Slytickle : 

"  Sir, — I  return  your  article  written  for  the  Daily  Hum- 
bug ;  it  is  too  short,  by  far,  and  not  sufficiently  eulogistic 
of  Mr.  Toadeater ;  besides,  it  does  not  dwell  with  suffi- 
cient warmth  upon  the  utility  of  the  office  which  we  are 
endeavoring  to  induce  the  people  to  establish.  We  wish 
you  to  put  forth  such  a  paper  as  shall  alarm  the  public 
mind  with  terrible  apprehensions  of  yellow  fever,  cholera, 
and  typhoid,  typhus,  and  high  bilious,  with  all  the  horrid 

15* 


If  4  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

diseases  to  which  a  city  is  subject.  Give  it  out  that  the 
frog  ponds  are  an  awful  nuisance,  and,  as  they  are  every- 
body's business,  per  consequence  they  are  nobody's  busi- 
ness; hence  the  necessity  that  exists  for  an  officer  whose 
duty  shall  be  their  inspection,  and  the  preservation  of  the 
city  from  malarious  influence.  I  am  most  anxious  that 
Mr.  Toadeater  should  obtain  a  public  position,  because  I 
count  on  his  assistance  in  any  manner  I  shall  direct  in  my 
plans  for  the  future.  I  have  an  eye  to  the  mayoralty  of 
the  city,  and  of  course  shall  want  wire-pullers,  pipe-layers, 
and  all  the  machinery  of  a  political  campaign.  When  I 
obtain  that  important  position  I  shall  not  forget  those  who 
assisted  me  up  the  ladder.  Now  think  of  that !  Write  a 
long  article  and  a  strong  article,  and  you  may  write  in 
school  hours  if  you  can  get  one  of  the  other  teachers  to 
take  charge  of  your  class  without  giving  her  an  inkling  of 
what  you  are  about. 

"  Yours,  etc., 

"  T.  M.  Abbettor." 

Mr.  Sly  tickle  to  Mr.  Abbettor: 

"  Very  dear  Sir, — I  hope  the  accompanying  article 
will  please  you  this  time.  I  have  made  it  much  longer 
than  at  the  first,  and  clothed  the  ideas  in  language  as  strong 
as  I  can  command.  I  wrote  in  school  hours,  as  you  kindly 
permitted.  Miss  Douglas  took  charge  of  my  class  in  addi- 
tion to  her  own.  She  is  a  most  capable  teacher,  but  in  my 
humble  opinion  a  little  too  high-toned  in  sentiment  and  in- 
dependent in  action  for  a  subordinate.  She  speaks  of  a 
higher  law  than  the  caprice  of  committees,  and  says  the 
teacher's  conscience  should  be  a  law  to  himself.  I  don't 
like  such  sentiments:  1  am  for  doing  what  I  am  told  and 
asking  no  questions;  but  to  judge  from  the  involuntary 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  175 

expression  of  her  eye,  and  the  unguarded  curl  of  her  lip,  I 
should  think  Miss  Douglas  has  no  respect  for  me  at  all.  I 
am  afraid  she  will  prejudice  the  Board  and  the  community 
against  me.  I  appeal  to  you,  honored  sir,  for  protection. 
Now,  Miss  Ursa  Minor,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  not  so 
faithful  in  the  discharge  of  her  duty,  but  then  she  is  very 
humble  to  superiors,  and  that,  in  my  eyes,  hides  a  multitude 
of  sins. 

"Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  N.  II.  Slytickle." 


CHAPTER    XXX Y. 

AN   EXAMINATION. 

"How  many  cowards,  whose  hearts  are  all  as  false 
As  stairs  of  sand,  wear  upon  their  chins 
The  beards  of  Hercules  and  flowing  Mars, 
Who,  inward  searched,  have  livers  white  as  milk!" 

That  dreaded  ordeal,  an  examination,  is  again  at  hand. 
Mr.  Slytickle,  in  great  perturbation,  has  summoned  his 
coadjutors- to  a  cabinet  council.  He  addresses  the  assem- 
bly: 

"  You  are  aware  that  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  writing 
to  do  lately,  but  I  must  not  tell  you  what  it  was  about, 
because  it  is  a  secret  of  Mr.  Abbettor's.  Well,  the  point 
at  issue,  and  a  sharp  point  it  is,  is  simply  this,  the  exam- 
ination is  at  hand  and  my  classes  are  unprepared.  I  could 
not  write  and  teach  both  at  the  same  time,  and  I  could 
not  bother  you  ladies  with  my  classes  more  than  once  or 
twice,  and  the  probable  consequence  will  be  their  failure. 


176  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Now,  then,  the  trouble  is  just  here:  how  am  I  to  account 
to  the  Board  for  this  failure  ?  I  dare  not  say  that  I  spend 
my  time  in  writing  for  members  of  the  committee!  My 
object  in  calling  }tou  together,  though  I  don't  mean  any- 
thing, is  to  ask  what  you  would  suggest  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, for  something  must  be  done." 

Deep  silence  on  the  part  of  coadjutors. 

"  Well,  I  see  you  have  nothing  to  suggest,  but  /have. 
In  the  first  place,  however,  I  wish  to  introduce  to  you 
our  distinguished  committee,  and  you  don't  know  them 
to  be  a  set  of  unprincipled  rascals — I  do ;  but  of  course  I 
don't  mean  anything.  Now,  the  only  way  to  fight  the 
devil  is  to  meet  him  on  his  own  ground.  They  trick  and 
truckle,  we  must  do  the  same  ;  that  is,  if  I  mean  any- 
thing, I  mean  the  committee.  Now,  when  you  have  Satan 
to  deal  with,  soap  him,  and  while  the  suds  are  in  his  eyes 
do  with  him  what  you  please.  I  could  not  live  an  hour 
without  suds ! — that  is,  I  mean  live  professionally.  And 
I  will  tell  you  why.  If  the  school  succeeds,  the  com- 
mittee takes  the  credit ;  if  it  fails,  then  mine  be  the  curse. 
What  heart,  then,  have  teachers  to  work  ?  I  answer,  none  I 
Therefore  my  maxim  is,  trick  and  truckle." 

Miss  Ursa  Minor  smiled  most  approvingly,  but  poor,  un- 
sophisticated Mattie  opened  her  intensely  luminous  eyes 
with  a  stare  that  was  frightful. 

11 1  see,  Miss  Douglas," said  Slytickle,  "that  you  are  very 
much  astonished.  Be  so  good  as  to  give  your  opinion  on 
the  subject." 

11 1  have  given  it  on  former  occasions,"  she  replied,  "and 
it  remains  unchanged.  The  teacher's  conscience  must 
be  his  reward  when  he  has  no  other.  And.  indeed,  he 
should  be  able  at  all  times  to  draw  consolation  from  that 
source " 

Slytickle  impatiently  interrupted,  "  Miss  Douglas,  you 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  lft 

have  boon  raised  and  lived  in  such  seclusion  that  yon  are 
quite  behind  the  aye.  You  must  therefore  excuse  me  for 
not  adopting  your  obsolete  ideas;  besides,  in  this  emer- 
gency something  must  be  clone  at  once,  and,  as  I  said, 
fight  the  rascals  with  their  own  weapons,  and  therefore  I 
propose  that  we  supply  our  classes  with  their  text-books, 
and  when  they  hav#  a  difficult  question  turn  our  backs 
and  let  them  help  themselves." 

Mat  tie  was  no  diplomatist,  and  she  spoke  with  warmth  : 
11  Two  wrongs  can  never  make  a  right.  If  the  committee 
be  as  you  say,  unprincipled,  that  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  be  so  too.  For  my  part,  I  would  shudder  to  teach 
to  those  young  and  pliant  minds,  placed  under  our  charge 
for  a  better  purpose,  such  a  lesson  of  practical  duplicity. 
Our  pupils  would  be  awTare,  of  course,  that  we  were  con- 
niving with  them  to  cheat  the  committee  ;  and  what 
respect  could  they  entertain  for  teachers  who  would  thus 
voluntarily  debase  themselves  to  obtain  a  petty  advantage  ? 
Far  better  for  teachers  and  pupils  both  to  fail  honestly 
than  to  succeed  ignobly;  for  vain  indeed  must  be  our  pre- 
cepts of  morality  when  our  example  opposes  with  its  liv- 
ing force  the  maxims  of  honor  and  integrity  which,  with 
well-becoming  grace,  we  daily  teach." 

Said  Slytickle,  with  a  sneer  and  sarcasm  which  he  did 
not  try  to  conceal,  "  You  preach  beautifully,  Miss  Doug- 
las, and  if  you  are  ever  so  situated  as  to  be  able  to  practice 
your  own  sermons  you  will  be  more  fortunate  than  I  have 
been  in  this  world.  Your  sentiments  might  be  carried  out 
on  Pitcairn  Island,  but  never  in  young  America!  As  I 
said  before,  we  must  meet  the  devil  with  his  own  argu- 
ment, and  to  trick  and  truckle  is  the  only  way  to  get 
along  with  school  committees." 

"  I  have  never  either  tricked  or  truckled,"  said  Mattie, 
"  and  yet  I  am  well  satisfied  with  my  success.     And  I  am 


178  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

willing  to  rest  my  claims  to  professional  respectability 
upon  an  examination  of  my  classes  at  any  time." 

"  But  then  you  Lave  not  been  kept  writing  for  these 
dogs  of  committeemen  as  I  bave,  and  consequently,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  your  classes  are  in  a  better  condition 
than  mine  /"  This  last  was  said  by  Mr.  Slytickle  with 
the  most  impatient  gesture,  and  witb»a  flush  of  the  brow 
and  a  gleam  of  his  snaky  eye  that  told  the  whole  story. 
He  feared  a  comparison  of  his  classes  with  those  of  Mat- 
tie's,  and  hence  the  effort  to  draw  her  into  complicity,  and 
thus  secure  more  than  one  ulterior  object. 

A  profound  silence  followed  this  outburst.  Mattie  was 
about  to  retire,  when  Slytickle  called  her  back.  "  Miss 
Douglas,  I  wish  to  say  a  word  to  you  in  private."  Mattie 
returned  and  entered  the  recess  of  a  window. 

Slytickle  advanced  close,  and  commenced  a  conversation 
intended  to  be  very  confidential.  Mattie  perceived  that 
his  breath  was  heavily  laden  with  the  odor  of  spice  and 
spirit.     He  spoke: 

II  Now,  Miss  Douglas,  I  know  you  are  an  honorable 
person,  and  will  not  betray  me,  therefore  I  confide  to  you 
my  private  opinion  of  these  humbug  commissioners  whom 
we  have  to  conciliate.  They  are  a  set  of  contemptible 
beggars  on  horseback,  and  they  ride  rough-shod  over  peo- 
ple better  than  themselves,  and  they  gloat  on  misery  which 
their  official  position  enables  them  to  inflict  upon  poor 
teachers." 

II I  think  you  are  unnecessarily  severe  upon  the  com- 
missioners," said  Mattie.  "I  have  always  found  them  to 
be  my  friends." 

"They  will  not  be  your  friends  or  mine  one  moment 
longer  than  suits  their  purpose  or  whim  ;  and  if  they  once 
take  a  prejudice  against  you,  the  highest  ability,  or  the 
faithfulness  of  years,   will  not  weigh  one  feather  in  the 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  179 

balance  of  their  resentment.  Look  at  the  treatment  the 
former  Principal  of  tins  school  received,  and  such  may  be 
mine  or  yours  at  any  moment;  so  guard  against  a  reverse, 
and  fight  the  villains  with  their  own  weapons ;  but  mind, 
I  don't  mean  anything." 

II  What  weapons  ?"  asked  Mattie. 

"  Do  you  see  anything  practiced  by  our  rulers  but  fraud 
and  trickery?  but  mind,  I  don't  mean  anything,"  he  re- 
plied. 

II I  can  never  practice  fraud  or  trickery,  and  if  those 
are  the  weapons  you  mean,  I  must  decline  the  battle," 
she  replied,  with  dignity.  "  But  I  think  you  unneces- 
sarily alarmed ;  the  case  is  not  so  desperate  as  you  appre- 
hend." 

"Lord,  girl,  what  a  novice  you  are!"  he  exclaimed 
abruptly,  insolently,  while  a  look  like  a  gleam  from  perdi- 
tion passed  over  his  Cassius-cut  face,  shot  through  his 
catlike  eyes,  drew  down  his  beaked  nose,  and  bolted 
through  Mattie's  fluttering  heart  like  a  ball  of  ice. 

She  retired  to  her  home  feeling  uncomfortable,  and  yet 
knew  not  why;  but  a  secret  intuition  oppressed  her  with 
the  belief  that  Slytickle  was  manoeuvring  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  object  other  than  the  one  expressed. 
But  what  could  it  be  ?  "I  have  none  to  counsel  me  in 
this  matter,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  and  am  too  unacquainted 
with  the  diplomacy  of  the  world  to  adopt  any.  I  can  but 
pursue  the  one  undeviating  path  of  honor  and  rectitude, 
and  take  the  consequence."  Then  meekly  folding  her 
hands  upon  her  breast,  she  raised  her  eyes  to  heaven  and 
ejaculated,  "  0  God,  give  me  bread  for  my  father, — that 
is  all  I  ask." 

Miss  Ursa  Minor  had  drawn  near  while  Slytickle  and 
Mattie  were  conversing,  cautiously  approaching,  aud  hold- 
ing her  hand  behind  her  ear  to  catch  every  word,  if  pos- 


180  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

sible.  At  the  termination,  she  flew  to  her  father,  "  Thank 
Heaven,"  she  exclaimed,  "there  is  a  chance  for  me  yet  !*' 

"  What  do  you  mean?"  inquired  the  meek  man  of  the 
white  cravat. 

"  I  mean  that  Miss  Douglas  has  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  Mr.  Slytickle,  and  sooner  or  later  she  will  feel  the  con- 
sequence. For  as  he  cringes  to  those  placed  over  him  in 
position,  so  he  expects  those  under  him  to  be  equally  duc- 
tile." 

The  Gordian  knot,  which  could  not  be  untied,  was  hap- 
pily cut,  and  Mr.  Slytickle  relieved  for  the  time  from  his 
perplexity.  Making  a  virtue  of  necessity,  he  informed 
Mr.  Abbettor  of  the  unprepared  condition  of  his  classes, 
and  as  that  gentleman  was  not  done  with  his  wire-puller, 
he  permitted  the  use  of  books  at  the  examination,  thus 
covering  the  failure  of  his  instrument  and  keeping  it  safely 
for  future  use.  Mattie  was  astonished  at  the  changed 
bearing  of  her  Principal.  From  a  dogged  and  sullen  de- 
spondency, he  suddenly  emerged  into  a  gay  and  super- 
cilious jocularity.  He  stalked  about  the  school,  or  sat 
astride  the  pupils'  desks,  with  the  air  of  a  monarch.  He 
countermanded  every  order  given  by  the  other  teachers, 
and  informed  everything  around,  even  the  stove-pipe, 
against  which  he  tattooed,  that  he  was  master  there,  as 
some  would  find  to  their  cost  (looking  askance  at  Mattie), 
and  others  to  their  no  small  gratification  (with  a  bow  and 
a  smile  to  Miss  Ursa  Minor), 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  181 


CHAPTER    XXXYI. 

MORE   LETTERS. 

"  Live  loathed  and  long, 
You  smiling,  smooth,  detested  parasite; 
Courteous  destroyers,  affable  wolves,  meek  bears, 
You  fools  of  fortune,  trencher  friends,  time  flies, 
Cap-and-knee  slaves,  vapors,  and  minute-jacks, 
Of  man  and  beast  the  infinite  malady, 
Crusts  you  quite  o'er." 

Mr.  Abbettor  to  Mr.  Slytickle  : 

"  Sir, — The  result  of  your  examination  is  highly  satisfac- 
tory to  the  Board,  which  has  complimented  both  you  and 
myself  upon  the  flourishing  condition  of  our  school ;  and 
now,  in  return  for  this  piece  of  kindness  on  my  part,  I 
want  you  to  assist  me  in  another  matter. 

11  Our  friend  Toadeater  is  off  our  hands,  and  now  we 
will  try  our  strength  on  the  Rev.  John  McGilhooter. 
After  we  have  helped  him  up  the  ladder,  we  shall  expect 
him  to  help  us ;  be  assured,  we  do  not  intend  to  work  for 
nothing!  Now  keep  this  fact  in  view,  because  a  man 
always  works  with  more  heart  when  he  knows  that  he  is 
working  to  benefit  himself.  Mr.  McGilhooter  cannot  live 
by  preaching,  his  heart  is  not  in  that  work;  but  I  think 
we  can  furnish  him  with  something  that  will  suit  his  ec- 
centric ability.  Genius,  you  know,  is  always  eccentric  ; 
and  the  great  genius  of  Mr.  McGilhooter  lies  in  his  being 
able  to  direct  what  he  could  not  do  himself.  In  this  re- 
spect he  is  powerful  ;  and  this  is  just  the  ability  requisite 
for  a  superintendent  of  the  schools,  so  you  see  we  have 

16 


182  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

found  the  man  ;  and  now,  if  we  can  get  the  public  to  en- 
tertain the  same  opinion,  all  will  be  well.  This  same 
public,  however,  is  a  queer  animal  to  deal  with  sometimes, 
and  requires  a  good  deal  of  training,  coaxing,  and  manipu- 
lation ;  and  now,  having  arrived  at  the  point,  I  want  you  to 
understand  it  square.  We  must  begin  with  the  teachers, 
and  we  want  them  to  collect  money  among  themselves, 
and  present  Mr.  McGilhooter  with  a  set  of  silver.  The 
presentation  must  be  made  public,  and  this  will  be  step 
number  one.  Get  this  far  in  the  job  and  then  I  shall  give 
you  further  instructions. 

u  Yours,  etc., 

"T.  M.  Abbettor." 

Mr.  Slytickle  to  Mr.  Abbettor : 

Honored  Sir, — I  have  complied  with  your  request : 
drawn  up  the  subscription  petition,  and  obtained  the  sig- 
natures of  all  the  teachers  whom  I  have  seen,  except  that 
of  Miss  Douglas.  She  says  she  has  not  the  funds  to 
spare  ;  but  that,  you  know,  cannot  be  true.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve she  has  one  particle  of  respect  for  either  you  or  my- 
self, or  McGilhooter  either,  although  he  is  a  minister  of  the 
gospel.  This  girl's  eye  says  what  her  lips  cautiously  re- 
fuse;  but  she  cannot  deceive  me,  I  read  her  like  a  book  ; 
and,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  dear  friend,  I  hate  her!  I  can- 
not like  those  who  do  not  like  you,  and  I  am  sure  this  girl 
does  not;  but  you  know  I  don't  mean  anything. 

"  I  am  thankful  to  you  for  your  favorable  representation 
to  the  Board,  and  shall  be  most  happy  to  evince  my 
gratitude  in  any  manner  most  acceptable  to  you  and  your 
friends. 

"Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"N.  H.  Slytickle." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  183 

Slytickle  to  ^liss  Douglas: 

"  Dear  Miss  Douglas, — I  regret  your  absence  from  school 
for  the  past  few  clays.  The  committee  has  been  here, 
and,  of  course,  that  old  granny  Abbettor ;  he  is  a  perfect 
old  nose-poke,  and,  without  meaning  anything,  I  took  him 
into  your  room.  He  opened  your  desk  and  found  some 
scraps  of  paper,  upon  which  he  said  you  were  a  sloven, 
and  not  fit  to  train  children  into  habits  of  neatness.  Should 
anything  unpleasant  arise  from  this  incident,  pray  don't 
blame  me.  I  hope  your  health  is  improved.  Like  the 
great  Pope,  I  write  on  the  back  of  a  letter. 

"  Your  devoted  friend, 

"N.  H.  S." 

Mr.  Abbettor  to  Mr.  Slytickle  : 

"  Sir, — I'll  give  that  Douglas  girl  thunder  one  of  these 
days ;  but  business  first  and  pleasure  afterwards,  is  my 
motto  ;  so  now  for  the  next  step  in  our  plan  of  operations. 
You  must  be  present  next  Sunday  at  the  West  End  Chapel 
to  hear  a  sermon  that  McGil hooter  will  preach  there  and 
then.  I  am  helping  to  write  the  sermon,  so  you  may  be 
sure  it  will  be  a  tip-top  affair  !  and  this  we  want  you  to 
say  as  soon  as  you  have  heard  it,  and  to  request  the  ves- 
try to  have  it  published  in  pamphlet  form.  Now,  this 
result  must  be  accomplished,  so  no  trifling  in  the  matter  1 
Ferhaps  I  may  explain  the  motive  to  you  at  another  time  ; 
but  for  the  present,  ask  no  questions.  In  addition  to  the 
above,  we  want  you  to  get  up  a  petition  requesting  McGil- 
hooter  not  to  retire  from  the  service  of  the  Board  ;  and  this 
petition  must  be  sent  to  all  the  schools  for  the  signatures 
of  the  teachers,  commencing,  of  course,  at  the  Factories 
for  the  sake  of  example.     And  here  I  may  as  well  tell 


184  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

you  that  the  object  of  this  petition  is  to  influence  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese  to  which  our  reverend  belongs. 
This  superintendent  of  sacred  livers  says  Mac.  is  becom- 
ing morally  bilious,  he  is  gathering  the  carbon  of  the 
world  too  rapidly  for  his  spiritual  health  ;  or,  in  clergy 
words,  he  is  grasping  too  vigorously  after  the  filth}-  lucre 
contained  in  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt,  and  he  must  return 
to  his  ministerial  duties  and  be  content  with  heavenly 
manna, — a  poor  exchange,  I  should  say.  I  would  rather 
have  the  contents  of  the  pots.  However,  to  quiet  B.  for 
the  present,  we  wish  to  get  up  a  petition  from  the  teach- 
ers of  all  our  schools,  requesting  Mac.  to  remain  where  he 
is.  In  the  mean  time,  who  can  tell  what  may  turn  up  ? — 
Mac.  may  astonish  both  B.  and  the  world.  The  set  of 
silver  was  beautiful,  and  the  presentation  very  fine, — that 
part  is  at  least  secure  ;  and  never  fear  for  the  future  :  our 
day  will  come,  we  do  not  work  for  nothing!  Keep  that 
fact  in  view,  and  don't  weary  in  well-doing.  When  I  am 
mayor  of  the  city,  you  may  claim  any  office  of  honor  and 
profit  that  is  at  my  disposal. 

"Yours,  etc., 


T.  M.  Abbettoii." 


Slytickle  to  Abbettor : 


"Honored  Sir, — Miss  Douglas  declines  signing  the 
petition  which  requests  Mr.  McGilhooter  to  remain  in  the 
employ  of  the  Board.  She  says  if  he  is  called  to  the  min- 
istry, he  should  not  abandon  the  holy  work  and  serve 
tables;  also  that  the  bishop  is  right  in  urging  his  return 
to  ministerial  duties.  I  am  beginning  to  entertain  a  hor- 
rible suspicion  about  Miss  Don-las  ;  1  really  think  she  is 
one  of  the  strong-minded  women!  The  Lord  protect  me 
from  a  strong-minded  woman!     You    know  it  is  said   a 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  185 

woman's  love  is  dangerous,  but  her  hate  is  fatal ;  and 
though  I  do  not  think  there  is  much  danger  of  this  one 
loving  me,  yet  I  dread  her  hate ;  so  I  must  entreat  you  to 
shield  me  from  the  consequence  of  this  candid  communica- 
tion. I  shall,  of  course,  be  at  church  on  next  Sabbath,  as 
you  direct,  and  shall  eulogize  Mr.  McGilhooter's  sermon, 
whatever  it  may  be,  and  urge  the  publication  of  the  same 
upon  the  vestry.  I  congratulate  his  reverence  upon  hav- 
ing such  valuable  aid  as  you  can  afford  him  in  the  construc- 
tion of  his  sermon  !  It  cannot  fail  to  be  a  superior  literary 
effort  !  If  there  is  anything  else,  sir,  that  you  wish  me  to 
do,  be  so  kind  as  to  inform  me.  I  have  no  greater  happi- 
ness in  life  than  to  obey  your  commands. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

"Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"N.  H.  Slytickle." 

"The  poor,  weak-minded  fool!"  exclaimed  Abbettor, 
after  glancing  at  the  above,  "  but  with  such  tools  we  must 
work  our  way.     Heigh-ho  !" 


16: 


186  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XX XT II. 

SECRET   CONCLAVE — STAR-CHAMBER   COMMITTEE. 

"  Thy  currish  spirit 
Governed  a  wolf  who  hang'd  for  human  slaughter; 
Even  from  the  gallows  did  his  fell  soul  fleet, 
And  whilst  thou  lay'st         .... 
Infused  itself  in  thee;  for  thy  desires 
Are  wolfish,  bloody,  starved,  and  ravenous." 

Mr.  Abbettor  directed  Mr.  Sly  tickle  to  say  no  more 
to  Miss  Douglas  on  the  subject  of  signing"  papers.  lie 
was  coming  to  the  school  soon,  he  said,  and  he  would 
make  her  sign,  or  he  would  sign  her  dismissal.  He  did 
not  reflect,  perhaps  he  did  not  know,  that  in  the  deep- 
est channel  of  that  girl's  veins  there  flowed  a  current 
dripped  from  a  race  who,  with  their  blood,  had  registered 
their  names  upon  the  pages  of  history  rather  than  sub- 
scribe to  that  which  their  principles  disavowed.  "  Follow 
to  his  burrow  beneath  the  earth  the  stern  dissenter ;  see 
him  worn  with  disease,  clung  with  famine,  and  when  you 
sing  of  faith  and  fortitude,  forget  not  the  meek,  the  bold, 
the  patient,  the  gallant  patriot  of  Scotland." 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Abbettor  had  got  McGilhooter's  sermon 
written  and  preached,  and  had  had  time  to  take  a  long 
breath,  he  made  his  promised  visit  to  the  school.  Ap- 
proaching Mattie,  he  remarked,  with  a  good  deal  of  stern- 
ness in  his  manner, — 

"  Miss  Douglas,  it  is  my  wish  that  you  sign  this  paper. 
We  shall  excuse  your  money,  of  which  you  seem  to  be 
very  careful," — this  with  a  sneer.     "  The  testimonial  to  a 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  187 

most  worthy  gentleman  was  obtained  without  your  aid, 
and  as  your  signature  to  this  paper  will  cost  you  nothing," 
— with  another  sneer, — "I  request  that  you  will  attach 
it." 

Said  Mattie,  politely,  but  with  a  firmness  unpardonable 
in  a  woman,  "  Mr.  Abbettor,  I  have  already  declined  to 
sign  that  paper,  for  reasons  which,  to  my  mind,  are  per- 
fectly satisfactory  and  sufficient.  If  you  please,  then,  I 
would  rather  not  be  importuned  any  more  on  the  subject. 
Indeed,  my  signature  is  of  so  little  importance  that  I  am 
surprised  at  the  request  being  so  often  repeated." 

11  Your  position  gives  importance  to  your  acts,"  he  re- 
plied, sharply,  "and  we  wish  the  example  of  teachers  in 
the  higher  grade  of  schools  to  influence  those  of  the  lower. 
Besides,  as  a  principle  of  obedience  between  officials  and 
subordinates," — very  haughtily, — "  we  insist  upon  our 
views  being  carried  out." 

"  So  far  as  school  duties  are  concerned,  sir,  I  admit  that 
you  are  perfectly  right  in  exacting  obedience ;  but  this  is 
a  matter  foreign  to  the  management  of  classes,  or,  indeed, 
to  any  of  the  known  responsibilities  of  teachers,  conse- 
quently a  subject  on  which  private  opinion  may  be  in- 
dulged." 

11 1,  for  one,  don't  indulge  opinions  in  a  woman !"  he  ex- 
claimed, in  a  voice  hissing  hot,  "  and  you  astonish  me  so 
much  that  I  conclude  we  never  know  a  woman  until  we 
find  her  out."  Rolling  his  "  baueful  eyes"  around  in  quest 
of  something  with  which  to  find  fault,  he  seethed  out  be- 
tween his  lips  quivering  with  rage,  "How  is  this? — your 
class  leave  the  room  badly,  they  go  one  before  the 
other  I" 

"They  cannot  go  abreast,  sir,"  said  Mattie,  "the  door 
will  not  admit  them." 

"But  one  elbowed  her  neighbor  aside  and  passed  on 


188  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

before,"  said  the  petticoat  tyrant,  evidently  delighted  at 
finding  a  subject  for  complaint  be  it  ever  so  small. 

11  That  elbowiug  a  neighbor  aside  and  passing  on  before 
seems  to  be  the  way  of  the  world,"  said  Mattie,  smiling; 
"  but  if  you  will  designate  the  offender  in  this  instance,  I 
will  reprimand  her  for  her  breach  of  etiquette." 

Mr.  Abbettor  did  not  deign  a  reply,  but  hastening  to 
Slytickle,  exclaimed,  "  I've  got  her  now,  and  you'll  hear 
thunder  soon!"  In  violent  bustle  he  entered  the  Com- 
missioners' office  and  directed  the  clerk  to  issue  orders  for 
the  immediate  attendance  of  the  committee  in  extra  ses- 
sion. Business  of  the  utmost  importance,  he^  said,  de- 
manded the  attention  of  every  member.  Each  came  run- 
ning. Box  started  without  his  hat,  but  felt  the  cold  upon 
his  bald  head  so  severely  that  he  put  back  for  repairs. 
Dr.  Huntemup  was  sitting  in  his  office  writing  letters. 
Two  of  those  were  of  such  peculiar  import  that  we  cannot 
refrain  from  mentioning  them.  One,  in  which  he  gave 
himself  a  feigned  name,  was  to  a  lady,  and  in  it  he 
threatened  "to  put  in  circulation  a  bad  report  about  her 
if  she  did  not  send  him  five  dollars."  The  other  was  also 
to  a  lady,  and  in  it  he  informed  her  that  he  was  in  attend- 
ance upon  her  rival,  and  if  she  would  send  him  the  dose, 
and  a  certain  sum  of  money,  she  would  find  him  her 
Adgandestrius  of  the  Catti  !  To  this  letter,  also,  the 
Jt<<iling  man  affixed  a  false  signature,  but  one  quite  differ- 
ent from  the  other.  And  this  fact  of  the  dose  may  give 
us  an  insight  into  the  strange  manner  in  which  some  peo- 
ple live  without  any  visible  means  of  support,  and  how 
others  die  without  any  specific  disease. 

Upon  receiving  the  order  of  the  Chairman,  the  doctor 
thrust  his  letters  into  his  pocket  and  flew  to  the  spot  as 
does  the  buzzard  when  scenting  either  blood  or  corrup- 
tion. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  189 

Foor  Woodmouse  crept  timidly  and  demurely  enough 
out  of  the  mayor's  office,  and  would  rather  not  have  met 
the  committee,  but  the  order  was  imperative.  And  now 
the  Star- Chamber  Committee  is  in  extra  session  !  Let 
us  pray  for  those  whom  it  has  upon  the  rack.  Mr. 
McGilhooter  hearing  that  cruel  sport  was  in  progress,  also 
presented  himself  by  virtue  of  the  right  of  the  "  Curious 
Impertinent." 

The  Chair  addressed  the  committee:  he  said  a  circum- 
stance had  transpired  at  the  Eastern  Education  Factory 
calculated  to  destroy  the  entire  school  system,  and  to 
bring  disgrace  and  infamy  upon  the  thing  which  they 
with  such  superhuman  efforts  had  been  laboring  to  per- 
fect. "  Such  an  outrage  upon  decency  and  propriety  was 
calculated  to  dishonor  public  educatiou  throughout  the 
world  I"  The  members  held  their  breath,  while  horror 
and  astonishment  were  depicted  upon  every  countenance. 
The  Chair  continued:  "This  outrager  of  human  decency 
was  no  other  than  that  she-dragon  of  that  unfortunate 
men-at-lie  (menagerie),  the  Eastern  Factory;  but  as  the 
committee  was  composed  of  refined  and  sensitive  gentle- 
men, the  Chair  would  not  pain  their  nerves  by  a  recital 
of  vulgarity  and  insubordination  too  dreadful  to  mention, 
but  simply  ask  a  vote  of  censure  to  be  passed  upon  the 
offending  party,  and  this  was  the  lightest  punishment  her 
high  crime  and  misdemeanor  could  justify." 

Poor  Woodmouse  timidly  asked  if  Miss  Douglas  was 
the  person  alluded  to,  and  requested  the  Chair  to  state 
the  acts  of  which  she  had  been  guilty,  when  the  com- 
mittee could  judge  for  itself  of  the  nature  and  amount  of 
punishment  due  to  the  delinquent. 

11  What  has  she  done?"  screamed  the  Chair, — "  why,  sir, 
she  has  done  everything  that  a  woman  can  do,  and  that's 
no  little,  to  embarrass  the  prosperity  of  the  school  and 


190  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

torment  the  life  out  of  poor  Slytickle.  She  is  a  woman, 
and  yet  she  presumes  to  have  opinions  of  her  own,  and 
presumes  to  give  them,  too,  and  that  in  the  face  of  her 
official  superiors.  Now,  suppose  we  permit  this  thing  to 
go  on,  we  shall  have  all  the  teachers  expressing  opinions 
soon,  and  then  what  will  become  of  our  authority  V 

Mr.  Woodmouse  arose,  and  remarked  that  the  Chair 
was  deviating  from  the  main  point,  and  failed  to  answer 
his  question,  which  was — What  had  Miss  Douglas  done 
to  call  forth  this  uuusual  display  of  severity  against  her? 
The  Chair  nodded  to  Dr.  Huntemup,  who  sprang  to  the 
floor,  exclaiming,  "  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  for  crushing  out 
every  indication  of  self-will  on  the  part  of  a  teacher,  espe- 
cially if  that  teacher  be  a  woman  !  Women  cannot  vote, 
and  therefore  they  have  no  right  to  think  1  We,  the 
noblest  part  of  God's  creation,  must  vote  for  them,  and 
think  for  them,  consequently  they  must  be  obedient  to  us 
and  have  no  opinions  but  such  as  we  suffer  their  poor 
weak  skulls  to  hold.  A  woman,  sir,  should  be  like  a 
chameleon,  and  reflect  only  the  color  of  the  man  standing 
next  to  her.  If  a  woman  is  rich,  however,  and  has  landed 
estate,  she  may  think  a  little  sometimes;  but  for  a  poor 
woman  that  has  to  work  for  her  living,  like  Miss  Douglas, 
to  presume  to  think  for  herself, — good  gracious!  what  is 
this  world  coming  to  ?  This  thinking  privilege,  sir,  this 
liberty  of  opinion,  is  a  mighty  quicksilvery  affair,  or  rather 
a  troublesome  disease,  which,  if  permitted  to  pass  the 
quarantine-grounds,  soon  becomes  an  epidemic,  and  there- 
fore I  vote  it  down  in  the  first  stage." 

Poor  Woodmouse  made  another  effort  to  say  that  all 
this  waste  of  words  was  a  divergence  from  the  main  point, 
and  that,  point  was  the  overt  act  of  which  Miss  Douglas 
had  been  guilty.  lie  did  not  for  a  moment  doubt  the 
honor  or  veracity  of  the   Chair,  but  then  the  committee, 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  191 

at  least  he  for  one,  wanted  to  hear  the  precise  facts  in  the 
case. 

The  Chair  ruled  Mr.  Woodmouse  out  of  order,  and 
directed  him  to  take  his  seat. 

The  bald-headed  Box  then  arose,  and  bowing  to  the 
Chair,  commenced  :  "  Mr.  Chairman,  we  all  know  that  this 
fellow  Slytickle  is  a  slippery  concern,  and  we  can  only 
manage  him  by  keeping  him  down  like  a  woman,  and  if 
we  permit  this  girl  to  have  opinions,  why,  of  course,  we 
cannot  deny  them  to  this  snake;  and  give  him  but  a  chance 
to  spring,  and  he  will  soon  be  around  our  throats.  For 
my  part,  I  would  rather  have  Medusa's  head  flying  and 
hissing  about  my  ears  than  that  this  double-tongued  vil- 
lain should  presume  to  speak  in  my  presence.  When  I 
am  by  he  shall  stand  with  bent  brows  and  downcast  look 
as  a  slave  before  his  master,  because  I  hate  him  ;  but  I 
mean  to  use  him,  nevertheless, — and  now  for  my  plan. 
Mis*  Becky  Sharp,  of  the  Western  Factory,  is  not  pleased 
with  her  position  there,  and  I  wish  to  transfer  her  to  the 
place  held  by  this  Douglas  girl,  and  consequently  she 
must  be  got  rid  of  in  some  way,  and  I  mean  to  make  Sly- 
tickle  do  the  work  without  knowing  what  he  is  about." 

Woodmouse  made  another  attempt  to  get  the  floor. 
"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "you  had  better  be  careful;  Miss 
Douglas  may  have  friends  who  will  resent  her  wrongs." 

The  Chair  lifted  one  of  its  legs  in  indignation,  and 
scornfully  replied,  "  We  have  counted  the  cost  in  that 
quarter.  The  girl's  father  is  old  and  sick,  she  has  no 
brother,  and  cannot  vote.  She  has  but  one  tongue,  and 
we  can  command  many,  and  we  can  tell  a  tale  that  will 
make  each  conspicuous  tooth  to  stand  on  end,  or  some 
other  way,  as  Tom  Moore  or  Milton,  or  I  don't  know 
who,  says." 

At  this  moment  the  door  burst  open,  and  in  rushed 


192  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Slytiekle  all  out  of  breath  ;  he  had  something  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  communicate  to  the  committee,  he  said. 
The  Chair  blandly  informed  Mr.  Slytiekle  that  he  had  the 
floor,  and  requested  him  to  proceed,  and  so  he  proceeded. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  a  most  painful  duty  to  perform, 
but  it  is  due  to  you,  and  to  the  community  whose  interest 
I  have  so  much  at  heart,  to  make  the  following  disclosure. 
A  few  moments  since  I  went  into  the  class-room  occupied 
by  Miss  Douglas, — she  was  teaching  history,  a  Compend 
of  Europe, — and,  gentlemen, — will  you  excuse  the  horrid 
allusion? — she  was  actually  explaining  to  her  class  the 
origin  of  the  name  Europe  I" 

At  this  terrible  announcement,  Dr.  Huntemup  and  the 
depilous  Box  sprang  from  their  seats  as  if  a  clap  of  thunder 
had  shaken  the  building,  and  they  ran  about  the  room  like 
tigers  looking  for  a  sheep.  The  Chair  was  compelled  to  call 
them  to  order.  "Be  calm,  gentlemen,  be  calm,"  said  the 
blandest  of  chairs.  "This  Chair  knows  that  the  facts  are 
affecting,  and  caU  forth  the  noblest  indignation  of  the 
human  heart !  Yes,  dear  gentlemen,  unless  something  is 
done,  and  done  promptly,  to  check  this  flood  of  immorality, 
the  whole  community  will  be  demoralized,  and  I  should 
not  wonder  if  the  Almighty  were  to  smash  up  things 
generally.  We  must  take  steps  to  prevent  it."  And  the 
righteous  Chair  sat  down. 

It  was  then  moved  and  seconded  and  passed  that  a 
vote  of  censure  be  pronounced  upon  Miss  Douglas,  and 
read  to  her  in  the  presence  of  the  school. 

"And  that  will  be  scratch  No.  1,"  said  the  amiable 
tiger,  Abettor. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  193 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

PROPOSAL. 

"Of  earthly  good  the  best  is  a  good  wife, 
A  bad,  the  bitterest  curse  of  human  life." 

Mrs.  Prudence  Podinger  was  a  shrewd  old  woman ; 
she  had  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  world,  she  said,  and  she 
whispered  in  confidence  to  everybody,  "that  she  had  seen 
very  little  good  in  it,  either."  She  kept  a  sharp  lookout 
on  her  neighbors,  and  woe  betide  the  delinquent  from  the 
rule  of  right  which  this  female  Lycurgus  had  established; 
her  sharp  tongue  would  be  on  him  or  her,  as  the  case 
might  be,  like  a  whole  nest  full  of  exasperated  wasps. 
Ward  Beecher  says,  "A  grove  brings  to  his  mind  a  cathe- 
dral" (but  the  idea  is  not  original,  because  Miss  Landon 
advanced  it  long  before),  and  I  dare  say  thousands  have 
had  the  same  thoughts  with  myself  about  busybodies; 
but  certainly  they  always  bring  to  my  mind  wasps/  Yes, 
wasps,  in  all  their  variety  1  For  there  is  the  white- 
headed  wasp  and  the  white-headed  busybody,  the  small- 
waisted  wasp  and  the  small-waisted  busybody, — oh,  how 
many ;  the  hole-digging  wasp  and  the  ditch-digging 
busybody,  the  short  wasp  and  the  long  wasp,  the  short 
busybody  with  long  tales,  and  the  long  busybody  with 
sharp  stings.  Heaven  preserve  us  from  wasps  and  busy- 
bodies!  If  perchance,  however,  one  of  Mrs.  Podinger's 
neighbors  did  come  up  to  the  standard  of  excellence 
which  she  had  erected  for  others  rather  than  herself,  she 
gave,  as  she  said,  the  "devil  his  due." 

IT 


194  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Now,  it  so  happened  that  Mattie's  domicile  was  situated 
in  the  same  neighborhood  with  that  of  the  famous  Mrs. 
Podinger,  and,  consequently,  she  shared  the  never-tiring 
scrutiny  of  that  ever-watchful  guardian  of  public  morals. 
The  beldam  soon  made  herself  acquainted  with  all  the 
young  teacher's  domestic  affairs,  and  was  pleased  to  ex- 
press herself  perfectly  charmed  with  the  "  gaPs"  devotion 
to  her  father.  Said  she,  u  If  that  gal  will  make  as  good 
a  wife  as  she  does  a  daughter,  I  wish  I  could  get  my  son 
to  marry  her,  for  I  would  ask  no  better  attention  to  my- 
self, when  I  am  old  and  helpless,  than  she  gives  to  her 
bedrid  father."  Mrs.  Podinger  said,  "  She  did  admire,  of 
all  things,  people  who  never  ceased  working;  and  that 
was  the  case  with  this  gal,  for  when  out  of  school  she 
was  sewing  for  her  father,  or  helping  Nannie  in  the  house, 
and  never  idle  a  moment." 

Mrs.  Podinger's  family  consisted  of  an  only  son,  a 
daughter,  and  two  granddaughters,  daughters  of  this 
widowed  daughter.  Now,  the  son  was  the  apple  of  the 
old  mother's  eye,  and  in  her  opinion  the  only  real  good 
thing  there  was  upon  the  earth.  The  opinion  of  the  world, 
however,  did  not  sustain  that  of  the  mother,  for,  by  his 
customers  at  least,  Mr.  Philpot  Podinger  was  not  consid- 
ered as  the  most  perfect  of  human  beings.  He  kept  a 
grocery  store,  and  some  said  he  clipped  the  weight ;  others, 
that  he  mixed  the  sugar ;  others,  that  he  chiseled  the 
change.  However,  as  his  wealth  steadily  increased,  per- 
haps envy  was  the  cause  of  many  ill-natured  remarks. 
But  one  thing  was  certain,  he  never  put  anything  into  the 
collection-plate  at  church,  or  gave  a  beggar  the  sweepings 
of  the  store,  unless  the  beggar  would  bring  a  bucket  of 
water,  or  split  a  stick  of  wood  to  pay  for  the  same,  and 
save  a  penny  to  the  owner.  And  those  who  got  the  dust 
of  the  tea-chest,  or  the  grains  of  coffee  lying  in  the  mud  at 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  195 

the  door,  had  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  scraping  for  the 
one  and  picking  up  the  other  So  thrifty  was  Mr.  Philpot 
Podinger  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  not  to  accumulate, 
because  all  was  gain  and  no  loss.  On  a  vacant  lot,  near 
his  store,  Mr.  Podinger  had  built  a  number  of  houses 
that  were  now  tenanted,  and  the  consequent  increase  of 
population  in  the  neighborhood  had  so  increased  the  busi- 
ness of  the  store  as  to  render  necessary  an  increase  of 
shopmen.  Mr.  Philpot  always  consulted  his  mother  about 
his  business,  and  this  important  matter  was  now  presented 
for  her  consideration.  Said  Philpot,  "  I  would  employ  a 
gal,  because  I  could  get  her  cheaper  than  a  boy,  only  I  am 
afraid  she  might  want  to  marry  me!" 

"  That  is  the  very  thing  you  ought  to  do,"  said  the 
mother,  °  if  you  could  ouly  get  a  suitable  one,  for  then  you 
would  have  wife  and  shopwoman  both  in  one,  and  who 
would  take  so  much  interest  in  your  affairs  as  your  wife  ? 
A  strauger  might  eat  the  cheese  and  crackers,  and  pocket 
the  sugar,  if  not  the  money ;  but  most  likely  both.  Then, 
an  educated  woman  could  keep  your  accounts,  and  make 
out  your  bills,  and  push  the  business  on  while  }rou  are 
away  attending  auctions  and  buying  in  things  cheap!" 

''What  you  say  is  very  true,  mother;  but  where  shall  I 
find  a  gal  who  is  able  to  do  all  that  ?"  said  Philpot,  in 
some  astonishment  at  this  new  aspect  of  the  matter. 

"  I  will  look  one  out  for  you ;  indeed,  I  have  my  eye  on 
one  already,  and  I  have  been  thinking  of  her  for  you  for 
some  time,  though  I  never  mentioned  it,  because  I  thought 
we  had  better  wait  until  she  was  rid  of  some  incumbrance 
she  has.  But  if  you  are  in  such  need  of  help  in  the  store 
you  may  be  losing  money,  and  that  matter,  of  all  others, 
must  be  looked  after,"  said  the  mother,  anxious  about  her 
son's  happiness  a  little,  but  about  his  money  a  great  deal. 

"  Well,  mother,  I  don't  know  who  the  gal  is  that  you 


196  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

have  been  thinking  of  for  me ;  but  you  had  better  not  men- 
tion to  her  how  much  I  am  worth  until  our  minds  are  fully 
made  up  on  the  subject,  because  she  might  be  too  anxious 
and  tease  us." 

11  My  mind  is  fully  made  up,"  replied  the  mother,  "  and 
we  may  have  to  tell  her  how  much  you  are  worth, — that  is, 
how  much  money  and  property  you  have, — in  order  to  get 
her  consent,  for  she  is  no  common  gal,  I  can  tell  you." 

"Why,  mother,  who  is  she?"  said  Phil.,  sitting  down 
with  his  hat  on,  and  a  hand  in  each  pocket  of  his  pants. 

11  Matilda  Douglas,  the  school-teacher.  Aha !  What  do 
you  think  of  that?" 

"La  sakes/  mother,  why,  she'd  suit  nice!  But  could 
you  get  her?"  said  Phil.,  actually  removing  his  hat  from 
his  head  and  his  hands  from  his  pockets  in  his  astonish- 
ment. 

"  Let  me  alone  for  that,"  replied  the  cute  old  one.  "  I 
know  how  to  come  it  over  these  gals.  I  was  a  gal  once 
myself,  and  I  know  how  their  fancies  are  tickled  about 
marriage,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing." 

Mrs.  Podinger  having  now  received  her  son's  consent 
to  the  proposed  matrimonial  speculation,  commenced,  like 
a  well-practiced  diplomatist,  to  prepare  for  the  coming  ne- 
gotiation, or  rather,  perhaps,  like  an  officer  in  command 
and  about  to  lay  siege  to  the  citadel.  She  made  a  bowl 
of  soup  and  sent  it  by  her  son  to  Mr.  Douglas.  "  The  gal 
will  admire  him  so  much  when  she  sees  how  kind  he  is, 
and  not  too  proud  to  bring  the  soup,"  thought  the  self-com- 
placent designer,  who  boasted  that  she  never  failed.  In  a 
few  days  she  sent  a  thimbleful  of  preserved  "damsels"  as 
she  called  them,  in  a  large  glass  bowl.  Mattie  thought 
it  must  be  the  bowl  that  was  the  present,  and  the  damsons 
an  accident ;  accordingly  she  directed  the  bowl  to  be  washed 
and  placed  in  the  china  closet ;  but  was  made  acquainted 


OR  MATILDA  DOUGLAS.  19Y 

with  her  error,  when  one  day  Mr.  Podinger  called  for  the 
bowl.  "  Such  delicate  attentions  must  propitiate  her,"  said 
Mrs.  Podinger,  "and  after  awhile  I'll  broach  the  subject 
right  out."  With  the  one  object  constantly  in  view  she  made 
frequent  visits  to  Mattie,  requested  to  be  shown  into  her 
father's  room,  and,  indeed,  all  over  the  house, — Mattie  did 
not  live  in  apartments  now, — extolled  everything  she  saw, 
from  garret  to  cellar,  and  declared  that  she,  "  Mattie,  was 
the  best  housekeeper  in  the  city,  for  not  as  much  dirt  could 
be  found  in  her  house  as  would  cover  her  finger-nail."  Mrs. 
Podinger  importuned  and  implored  for  a  visit  in  return.  "  I 
have  been  to  see  you  so  often,"  she  said,  "aud  you  never 
think  it  worth  while  to  look  in.  I  have  something  to  show 
you,  something  to  tell  you,  and  something  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  consult  you  about."  And  happy  Mrs.  Pod- 
inger thought  her  mission  as  good  as  completed  when 
Mattie  had  consented  to  call. 


CHAPTER     XXXIX. 

THE    VISIT. 

"Of  all  proceedings  in  this  great  affair 
We  must  not  use  our  fortune,  but  our  care." 

Gratitude  is  ever  the  characteristic  of  a  noble  mind, 
and  the  smallest  favor  is  sufficient  to  call  forth  its  exer- 
cise. 

Cunning  Mrs.  Podinger  could  not  have  taken  a  more 
direct  road  to  Mattie's  heart  than  through  her  father,  and 
this  she  understood  ;  hence  the  bowl  of  soup  and  the  va- 
rious little  attentions  to  the  father  were  intended  aspropiti- 

17* 


198  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

ators  of  the  daughter.  Up  to  this  point  Mrs.  Podinger's 
mind  couid  follow  Mattie's  and  track  its  course ;  but  one 
step  further,  and  the  old  diplomatist  was  lost  in  a  sea,  the 
depth  of  which  she  could  not  even  imagine.  Thoughts 
and  motives  which  would  have  influenced  her  were  to 
Mattie  as  ropes  of  sand,  and  never  for  a  moment  could 
have  swayed  even  the  shadow  of  an  action. 

The  predominating  idea  with  vulgar  minds  is  money ; 
and  Mrs.  Podinger  was  not  so  far  wrong  in  her  estimate 
of  human  nature  when,  judging  from  herself,  she  con- 
cluded that  every  human  being  had  his  and  her  price. 
Such  minds — money  minds  we  call  them — are,  indeed, 
vastly  in  the  majority  on  this  planet,  and  to  find  one 
superior  to  such  considerations,  one  whose  motives,  in- 
stincts, and  determinations  are  pure,  high,  and  holy,  is 
like  finding  a  tropical  plant  amid  the  frozen  snows  of  Ice- 
land. God  grant  that  our  rare  exotic  may  not  wither  by 
reason  of  the  uncongenial  climate  and  the  biting  blasts 
which  come  to  it  1 

On  the  occasion  of  Mattie's  visit  to  the  importunate 
Mrs.  Podinger,  she  found  the  old  lady  in  a  strangely  ab- 
stracted mood,  evidently  absorbed  in  deep  reflection,  turn- 
ing over  in  the  pocket  of  her  mind,  not  the  fate  of  nations, 
but  of  dollars  and  cents.  "  How  much  shall  we  gain  by 
this  transaction  ?  The  girl  has  no  money,  but  then  she 
has  work  in  her;  and  work  is  money."  Thus  ruminated 
Mrs.  Podinger,  and,  glancing  over  her  glasses  at  Mattie, 
she  said  to  herself,  "Yes,  I'll  take  the  final  plunge!  I'll 
propose !  and  then  it  will  soon  be  all  over,  for,  of  course, 
she'll  accept."     She  broke  the  ice. 

"  Have  I  not  a  nice  snug  place  here,  Miss  Mattie?" 

"  You  are  very  neatly  and  cosily  situated,"  replied 
Mattie. 

"And  see,  I  have  a  new  cooking-stove  ;  no  fear  but  that 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  199 

I  shall  be  able  to  cook  us  plenty  to  eat.     What  do  you 
like  best,  Miss  Mattie?" 

"  I  am  not  much  of  an  epicure,"  said  Mattie,  not  at  all 
understanding  the  drift  o£  the  question. 

Said  one  of  the  little  granddaughters,  "  We  are  going  to 
get  a  new  clock,  so  that  you  won't  be  a  moment  too  late 
at  the  store  on  dark  mornings." 

Mrs.  Podinger  shook  her  head  threateningly  at  the 
child,  but  Mattie  smiled  at  this  (as  she  thought)  burst  of 
childish  folly. 

"  Don't  you  think  my  nice  new  rag  carpet  on  the  dining- 
room  floor  quite  a  beautiful  one,  Miss  Mattie?" 

"  It  is  really  quite  a  good  carpet  for  service,"  replied 
the  visitor. 

"  And  see  what  a  beautiful  quilt  I  have  quilted  lately, — 
and  then  this  set  of  new  china  !  Is  it  not  beautiful  ?  To 
be  sure,  some  of  the  pieces  are  a  little  cracked,  and  some 
are  of  different  pattern  and  of  a  differeut  color,  but  then 
we  got  them  cheap  !  and  they  answer  the  purpose  just  as 
well.     Don't  you  think  so  ?" 

"Yes,  if  you  leave  looks  out  of  the  question,"  said 
Mattie,  still  profoundly  in  the  dark. 

"  Why,  child,  we  don't  go  for  looks.  It's  the  real  use 
of  things  that  we  look  at.  And  now,  my  dear,  would  you 
believe  it?  but  all  this  preparation  is  for  you  !"  (This  with 
a  most  insinuating  smile.) 

"For  me?"  exclaimed  Mattie,  in  unfeigned  astonish- 
ment. 

"  Yes,  for  you  !  because,  you  see,  my  son  is  the  best  son 
in  the  world,  and  you  are  the  best  daughter,  and  I  think 
the  best  son  and  the  best  daughter  ought  to  be  united.  And 
I  want,  above  all  things,  to  see  you  married  to  my  son.  I 
know  he'll  treat  you  rale  good ;  and  he  will  varnish  the  parlor 
chairs,  and  he  will  get  a  carpet  for  the  parlor,  and  let  you 


200  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

have  the  old  one  for  your  chamber,  if  you  wish  it,  and  make 
things  to  your  liking  and  mine ;  for  he  never  does  any- 
thing without  consulting  me  /"  Mattie  sat  and  stared  at 
Mrs.  Podinger  in  dumb  amazement,  so  totallv  new  was 
the  thought  presented  that  she  almost  failed  even  then  to 
comprehend  it. 

"  Oh,  I  want  you  for  my  son's  wife,  that's  all  I"  con- 
tinued the  old  woman,  coming  close  to  Mattie  and  attempt- 
ing to  kiss  ker.  This  affectionate  demonstration  roused 
the  girl  from  her  dumb  surprise,  and  she  burst  into  a 
merry  laugh.  Mrs.  Podinger  took  the  laugh  for  acqui- 
escence, and,  calling  her  daughter  and  granddaughters,  com- 
manded them  to  come  and  kiss  their  new  relation.  The 
daughter  came  first,  and,  putting  her  arms  around  Mattie, 
exclaimed,  "  Now,  do  marry  my  brother,  and  then  you  can 
teach  my  children  how  to  behave  in  company ;  and  when 
they  grow  up  they  can  get  nice  beaus."  "  Oh,  yes,  marry 
my  uncle,"  said  one  of  the  little  girls,  "  and  then  we  will 
buy  a  carriage,  and  we  can  get  nice  drives  to  the  coun- 
try." "  Oh,  yes,  please  marry  him,"  chimed  in  the  other, 
"  for  then  he  will  give  us  sausage  and  cheese  and  store- 
crackers  for  supper." 

Mattie  felt  inclined  to  release  herself  from  caresses  and 
importunities  by  bounding  from  the  house  and  escaping  by 
actual  flight.  This  was  not  so  easily  done,  however,  as 
each  one  hung  about  her  neck  and  kissed  her,  and  entreated 
her,  until  in  utter  desperation,  Mattie  begged  them  to  be 
seated  and  she  would  explain  herself.  Addressing  the 
mother,  she  said, — 

11  Be  assured,  Mrs.  Podinger,  I  am  most  grateful  for  the 
good  opinion  you  entertain  of  me,  and  fully  appreciate  the 
honor  intended  in  the  offer  you  make  ;  nevertheless,  I  must 
positively  decline  the  flattering  proposal,  as  I  have  not  the 
least  intention  of  marrying  at  present,    I  do  not  know  that 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  201 

I  shall  ever  marry, — T  am  not  a  speculator  in  the  matri- 
monial market;  and  should  I  ever  become  a  wife,  it  will  be 
from  motives  of  higher  consideration  than  those  of  per- 
sonal convenience." 

The  old  woman  could  stand  this  no  longer.  She  ex- 
claimed, "  Oh,  don't  talk  that  way,  you  don't  know 
how  happy  you  would  be! — and  I  will  tend  your  father 
rale  good  if  you  will  only  help  Philpot  in  the  store  a 
little." 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  intentions,"  said  Mattie, 
growing  thoroughly  disgusted;  "but  I  would  not  em- 
barrass any  one  with  attendance  on  my  father;  I  deem  it 
a  duty,  as  it  is  certainly  a  pleasure,  to  attend  him  myself, 
and  I  would  not  delegate  the  important  trust  to  another." 
She  arose  to  go. 

It  was  now  Mrs.  Podinger's  turn  to  be  astonished,  and  we 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  her  astonishment 
when  it  kept  her  silent  a  whole  minute.  At  length  finding 
voice,  she  exclaimed,  "  Well  !  upon  my  soul,  I  did  not 
think  there  was  such  a  fool  in  town  !  Why,  my  Philpot 
is  a  rale  good  offer,  gal ;  you  don't  know  what  you  are 
about.  Why,  he  is  worth  forty  thousand  dollars, — he  told 
me  not  to  tell  you,  for  fear  of  making  you  too  anxious  and 
too  proud  to  help  him  in  the  store,  but  I  will  tell  you, 
because  you  are  throwing  away  a  fortune  and  don't 
know  it." 

"  The  money  consideration  would  have  no  weight  with 
me,"  said  Mattie;  "my  feelings  must  be  interested  in  the 
person  I  marry,  or  I  must  be  swayed  by  some  motive 
other  than  a  mercenary  one.  At  present  nothing  is  further 
from  my  thoughts  than  marriage;  my  father  may  live 
many  years  yet,  and  certainly  I  shall  not  marry  while  he 
lives." 

"  Well,  you  are  a  great  fool,  that  is  all  I  have  to  say; 


202  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

and,  besides,  my  son  is  going  to  get  a  carriage, — he  has  to 
keep  a  dray-horse,  it  is  cheaper  than  to  hire, — and  then  he 
can  haul  you  to  the  country  on  Sundays.  Why,  gal,  you 
don't  know  what  you  are  about  I" 

Mattie,  wishing  no  more  conversation  on  the  subject, 
bent  her  steps  resolutely  to  the  door.  The  old  woman 
followed  close  at  her  heels  almost  in  tears,  and  whimpered 
out,  "Well,  I  declare,  I  don't  believe  Philpot  will  eat  any 
supper  to-night,  he  will  be  so  astonished." 

Said  Mattie,  "  He  has  no  occasion  to  feel  in  the  least 
disappointed,  for  he  can  easily  get  a  wife  that  would  suit 
him  much  better  than  I  should." 

"But  she  couldn't  keep  books,  and  make  out  bills,  and 
do  all  the  writing  like  you  could,"  said  the  baffled  diplo- 
matist, deprecatingly. 

"  Won't  you  please  marry  my  uncle  ?"  put  in  again  one 
of  the  little  girls  ;  "  for  then  you  could  bring  us  a  pocket- 
ful of  raisins  from  the  store, — my  uncle  is  so  stingy  I  The 
other  day  I  found  a  cent,  and  he  took  it  for  six  raisins. 
Please  marry  him,  won't  you  ?"  And  the  earnest  little 
blue  eyes  looked  up  so  beseechingly. 

Mattie  patted  the  child  upon  the  head,  and  putting 
her  gently  aside,  made  for  the  door,  followed  by  the  old 
woman,  who  kept  close  to  her  side,  wringing  her  hands 
the  while,  and  exclaiming,  ever  and  anon,  "Well!  well  ! 
if  this  don't  beat  all  the  rest ;  I  could  not  have  be- 
lieved it!" 

As  Mattie  was  about  to  leave  the  step,  the  amazed 
and  disconcerted  matchmaker  seized  her  by  the  arm.  "I 
say,"  she  exclaimed,  "if  you  should  come  to  your  senses 
after  you  have  slept  on  it  and  change  your  mind  ever  so 
little,  let  us  know."  Then  rushing  back  into  the  house, 
she  exclaimed,  "That  gal  is  nothing  but  a  humbug  and 
an    ungrateful    wretch  !     I  never    was    so   thunderstruck 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  203 

in  my  life.     I  hope  to  Heaven  she  may  never  get  a  hus- 
band*!" 

And  so  unfortunate  Mattie  has  made  another  enemy. 


CHAPTER    XL. 


VOTE   OF    CENSURE. 


"Why,  I  can  smile  and  murder  while  I  smile, 
Can  cry  content  to  that  which  grieves  my  heart, 
And  wet  my  cheeks  with  artificial  tears 
And  frame  my  face  to  all  occasions." 

The  document  of  censure  being  duly  passed  in  parlia- 
mentary style,  was  given  to  Mr.  Slytickle,  with  instructions 
to  read  it  before  the  assembled  school,  and  to  surprise  Miss 
Douglas  into  an  attendance  at  the  reading.  How  the 
monster  hounds  panted  for  the  taste  of  blood  dripped  from 
a  heart  crushed  beneath  their  grinding  heels ! 

Mr.  Slytickle  was  only  too  happy  to  be  the  Jack  Ketch 
on  this  occasion,  and  instantly  upon  the  reception  of  the 
order  hastened  to  execute  it.  He  assembled  the  school,  and 
directed  the  teachers  to  be  present.  Poor  Mattie,  who 
had  not  the  least  suspicion  of  what  was  about  to  be  trans- 
acted, approached  her  fate  like  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter. 
When  the  school  was  seated  and  quiet  obtained,  Mr.  Sly- 
tickle arose,  and,  putting  on  a  dolorous  face,  informed  all 
present  that  a  very  painful  duty  devolved  upon  him,  but 
as  he  was  compelled  to  obey  superiors  or  suffer  punish- 
ment himself,  he  could  not  refuse  it.  He  then  proceeded 
to  read  the  vote  of  censure  passed  by  the  committee  on 


204  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Miss  Douglas,  and  to  inform  her  officially,  that  if  she  did 
not  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  committee  she  must 
resign  her  situation. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  Mattie  or  the  school 
were  most  astonished;  everyone  present  seemed  struck 
dumb  with  amazement.  Mattie  herself  sat  motionless 
as  a  statue  and  white  as  marble,  while  the  silence  of 
death  reigned  over  the  assembly.  Gradually  there  arose 
a  buzzing  inquiry.  "What  had  Miss  Douglas  done?" 
"What  had  Miss  Douglas  done  ?"  was  whispered  louder 
and  louder  by  two  hundred  girls,  until  the  hum  became  a 
shriek  and  consternation  took  the  form  of  the  wildest  up- 
roar. Mattie  was  aroused  from  stupefaction  by  her  class 
rushing  to  her  in  a  body  and  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  Miss 
Douglas,  what  have  you  done?  What  have  we  done, 
that  you  should  be  punished  in  this  way  ?"  Mattie  arose, 
and,  with  as  much  composure  as  she  could  command,  re- 
quested permission  to  state  to  the  school  the  grounds  of 
her  offense.  This  Mr.  Slytickle  peremptorily  refused,  and 
commenced  so  violent  a  ringing  of  the  school-bell  that  it 
was  impossible  to  hear  a  word.  Mattie,  by  signs  and 
gesticulations,  brought  her  class  to  order  and  got  them 
seated,  when  Mr.  Slytickle  instantly  dismissed  the  school. 
Two  persons  present  were  exceptions  to  the  general  amaze- 
ment, because  they  had  been  prepared  for  the  scene  and 
instructed  how  to  act  in  the  approaching  crisis;  these  were 
Miss  Ursa  Minor  and  Miss  Asp.  Of  this  Miss  Asp  we 
have  heard  before,  but  we  shall  hear  of  her  no  more. 
When  Slytickle  wanted  an  instrument  to  use  in  his  dia- 
bolical ticklings,  he  made  use  of  this  poor  girl.  She  was 
a  bright  and  intelligent  one,  capable  of  becoming  an  or- 
nament to  society  ;  and,  withal,  she  was  pretty, — so 
much  the  worse  !  Oh,  the  misfortune  of  having  talents 
placed  in  the  keeping  of  the  unworthy  !    Not  in  the  child's 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  205 

keeping, — we  don't  mean  that,  she  was  too  }foung  to  keep 
anything;  but  in  the  keeping  of  those  who  profess  to  be 
educators  and  developers  of  the  divine  gift  of  intellect. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Slytickle  had  dismissed  the  school,  he 
ran  to  his  recitation-room  and  locked  the  door,  lest  Mattie 
should  seek  an  explanation  of  these  strange  proceedings. 
The  cowardly  scamp  dared  not  meet  the  clear,  penetrating 
eye  of  that  injured  girl,  so  he  took  refuge  in  his  strong- 
hold, his  class-room,  and  fortified  his  nerves  with  Planta- 
tion Bitters, — a  sly  way  of  getting  drunk. 

Some  of  the  older  pupils  gained  access  to  Miss  Ursa 
Minor,  and  with  loud  earnestness  inquired  the  cause  of 
Miss  Douglas's  trouble.  They  loved  Mattie,  every  pupil 
in  the  school,  except  those  whom  Slytickle  had  taken 
special  pains  to  prejudice  against  her. 

Said  Miss  Ursa  Minor,  in  reply  to  the  question  of  the 
girls,  "  That  Douglas  thing  is  a  hateful  proud  upstart,  and, 
besides,  she  is  a  public  robber,  and  has  robbed  me  of  my 
rights.  I  am  entitled  to  the  situation  which  she  holds,  and 
I  will  have  it  yet,-^my  father  says  I  shall !" 

Children  take  up  an  idea  strangely  sometimes,  and  the 
news  was  soon  spread  all  over  town  that  Miss  Douglas 
was  a  robber  and  had  robbed  Miss  Ursa  Minor,  and  the 
committee  had  turned  her  out  of  school  for  being  a  robber. 

Miss  Asp,  in  the  bonnet-room,  was  busily  employed,  ac- 
cording to  the  instructions  which  she  had  received,  in 
giving  the  girls  the  version  of  the  affair  which  Slytickle 
had  put  into  her  mouth.  Poor  child  !  My  heart  bleeds 
when  I  think  of  the  filthy  blotches  this  villain  was 
spreading  upon  the  mind  of  that  innocent  child, — a  mind 
which,  previous  to  his  manipulation,  was  pure  as  mountain 
snow !  The  lies  he  was  teaching  her  to  tell  (she  knew 
they  were  lies  as  well  as  he  did)  were  sticking  to  her  soul, 
weakening  her  principles  and  polluting  her  character.     A 

18 


206  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

city  rendered  unhealthy  by  miasmatic  deposit  is  ready  to 
fall  into  disease  and  death  by  the  first  breath  that  blows 
across  its  befouled  and  Heaven-deserted  streets,  so  the 
mind,  rendered  impure  by  dreadful  education,  is  ready  to 
fall  a  victim  to  the  first  temptation  that  besets  its  path. 

As  Mattie  passed  the  bonnet-room  she  heard  Miss  Asp, 
in  high  key,  telling  the  girls  that  the  commissioners  wished 
Miss  Douglas  to  resign  because  she  was  so  unprincipled. 
Miss  Ursa  Minor  was  stationed  by  the  open  door  of  her  re- 
citation-room, but  as  soon  as  she  saw  the  victimized  girl 
approach,  ran  inside  and  slammed  the  door.  Mattie  knew  it 
would  be  vain  to  apply  there,  so  she  took  her  solitary  way 
homeward,  feeling  more  deeply  wretched  than  she  had  ever 
felt  since  that  dark  night  on  which  she  stood  by  the  side 
of  her  lifeless  mother.  "  Because  she  is  so  unprincipled  !" 
rang  in  her  ear  like  a  seven-toned  trumpet.  "  Oh,  right- 
eous Heaven  !"  she  exclaimed,  "what  is  principle  ?  what 
is  integrity  ?"  She  cast  a  retrospective  glance  over  her 
past  life  :  there  was  not  one  bright  spot  in  all  the  arid 
desert  of  her  existence,  not  one  oasis  on  which  to  rest,  or 
find  a  moment's  respite  from  despair,  save  in  that  sad, 
sweet  memory  of  her  mother.  To  this,  then,  she  clung 
with  desperate  energy,  laid  her  bruised  heart  upon  it,  and 
tried  to  still  its  agony  ;  but  the  agony  now  was  too  strong 
for  hushing,  and  burst  forth  in  low,  deep  tones  :  "  O  God  !" 
she  cried,  "  Thou  hast  dealt  hardly  by  thy  servant ;  slay 
me  quite,  for  I  am  weary  of  life!"  She  passed  into  the 
chamber  where  lay  her  father,  his  white  hair — prematurely 
white — showered  like  snow  upon  his  pillow.  He  was 
sleeping  sweetly  as  an  infant,  a  smile  resting  upon  his  face, 
happily  unconscious  of  the  sorrow  that  was  crushing  the 
heart  of  his  child.  Mattie  stood  and  gazed  upon  his  help- 
less form,  his  noble  face,  his  majestic  brow,  girdled  with 
the  grandeur  of  godlike  intellect, — intellect  which,  if  it  had 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  207 

been  properly  applied,  could  have  gained  for  the  possessor 
a  never-fading  chaplet, — could  have  placed  him  on  fame's 
eternal  tower.  Now,  here  it  lies  low  down  in  the  dust, 
trodden  under  foot  by  the  scoffer  and  the  jester,  only 
sustained  by  the  few  crumbs  his  child  can  gather  under 
the  feet  of  brutal  power  and  insolent  oppression.  "  Oh, 
Heaven  !  reveal  to  our  hearts  the  mysteries  of  thy  govern- 
ment !  Our  spirits  faint  within  us  by  reason  of  our  doubts, 
and  we  are  lost  in  the  mist  of  uncertainty."  These  were 
the  thoughts  of  the  girl  as  she  stood  and  gazed  upon  the 
prostrate  being  before  her,  and  if  ever  a  heart  wept  blood, 
hers  distilled  the  sanguine  drops  at  that  moment.  "  If  I 
could  but  ask  his  counsel,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  But,  no, 
I  will  not  pain  him  with  my  troubles  ;  his  physical  suffer- 
ing is  as  much  as  he  can  bear.  Oh,  that  I  had  never  per- 
mitted myself  to  be  tempted  from  my  happy,  lonely  school 
far  out  upon  the  common,  where  the  poor  loved  me  and 
the  kind  cherished  me !  Oh,  that  I  had  not  gone  to  that 
sink  of  iniquity,  that  den  of  corruption  !  Then  to  be  stig- 
matized as  unprincipled,  when  it  is  for  adherence  to  prin- 
ciple that  I  am  insulted,  traduced  ;  for  my  loyalty  to  truth 
and  honor  that  I  am  martyred.  And  it  will  be  bruited 
abroad  that  I  am  false  to  the  sacred  charge  of  duty,  that 
my  breath  is  contamination  to  the  young.  If  they  had 
but  spared  me  this,  I  could  have  borne  all  else." 

Overcome  with  emotion,  she  sank  upon  her  knees  by 
the  side  of  her  father's  pillow,  and,  lifting  one  of  the 
white  locks  that  lay  in  luxuriance  around  his  gloriously- 
formed  head,  pressed  it  to  her  lips,  and  bathed  it  with  her 
tears.  He  awoke,  and,  smiling  upon  her,  said,  "  My  love, 
I  have  just  had  such  a  pleasant  dream  of  you.  I  thought 
a  bright  being  was  binding  upon  your  brow  the  myrtle 
wreath,  such  as  the  ancient  victors  wore  when  having 
won  the  race." 


208  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"  Ob,  my  father  !"  she  mentally  exclaimed,  "  how  dif- 
ferent from  the  sad  reality  is  your  mocking  dream  !"  With 
desperate  effort,  she  restrained  her  emotion,  and,  banish- 
ing from  her  face  and  voice  traces  of  grief,  conversed  as 
usual  with  the  sick  man,  and,  when  night  closed  in,  read 
him  to  sleep,  as  was  her  custom.  When  drooping  eye- 
lids and  heavy  breathing  showed  that  he  no  longer  heard 
the  tones  of  her  sweet  voice, — sweet  to  him,  at  least, — 
she  retired  to  her  own  chamber  and  wept  the  night  away. 
But  during  that  sleepless  night  she  formed  a  resolve;  and 
in  the  morning  returned  to  school  to  put  it  into  execution. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

TRIUMPH. 

"  Poor  is  the  triumph  o'er  tho  timid  hare, 
Scared  from  the  corn,  and  now  to  some 
Lone  retreat  retired." 

As  soon  as  Slytickle  had  got  rid  of  Mattie  and  the 
school,  he  hastened  to  the  committee  to  inform  them  how 
the  martyr  had  borne  her  execution.  Said  he,  "  She  actu- 
ally cried !  The  dignified,  self-sustained,  haughty  Miss 
Douglas  actually  wept.     I  saw  the  tears." 

Said  McGilhooter,  "  You  saw  the  tears?  Are  you  sure 
you  did?  You  must  be  mistaken.  Did  you  really  see 
the  tears  ?     How  many  were  there,  do  you  think?" 

"Oh,  I  could  not  count  them,  they  fell  so  fast,"  said 
Slytickle  ;  "not  like  a  shower,  either,  but  like  pearls  when 
the  string  is  broken ;  and  as  quickly  she  caught  them." 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  209 

Dr.  Huntemup  snuffled  out,  "  Egad !  how  I  should  like 
to  have  witnessed  her  humiliation, — the  cold,  proud  thing!" 

Said  Slytickle,  "  As  to  that,  she  did  not  look  very  much 
humiliated,  although  the  tears  would  come.  She  stepped 
as  proudly  as  a  war-horse.  She  is  hard  to  kill,  I  tell  you. 
There  is  some  internal  fire  in  that  girl  which  is  not  easily 
quenched." 

Said  Abbettor,  "  I  should  really  like  to  know  if  the 
tears  fell  in  drops  or  in  a  stream,  because  one  can  judge 
by  that  how  much  she  was  hurt.  She  might  have  shed  a 
few  drops  for  anger.  I  have  known  people  to  cry  in 
anger,  but  a  stream  is  apt  to  denote  a  crushed  and  broken 
fountain." 

"  Well,  she  was  not  crushed,  however  she  might  have 
been  broken,"  said  Slytickle;  "for  she  said,  quite  proudly, 
1 1  accept  my  fate.  I  will  resign  my  situation,  and  appeal 
to  the  Board  to  give  me  a  school  of  my  own,  such  as  I 
had  before  coming  here.  I  was  happy  then,  but  I  have 
never  been  happy  in  this  place.  There  is  too  much  trickery 
here  for  my  taste.'  " 

"  She  will  appeal  to  the  Board,  will  she  ?  the  infernal 
termagant  !"  screamed  the  committee,  in  a  chorus.  "  But 
we'll  be  there  before  her."  And  a  gleam  of  triumph  lighted 
the  faces  of  the  scoundrel  band  like  a  flash  of  lurid  flame 
lighting  a  cavern  filled  with  bones  and  putrid  flesh  and 
human  gore.  The  historian  tells  us  that  when  William 
of  Orange  received  a  wound  upon  the  banks  of  the  Boyne, 
the  news  was  received  in  Paris  with  such  a  jubilee  of  joy 
that  the  whole  city  arose  at  midnight  and  rushed  to  the 
surgeons,  eager  to  know  if  such  a  wound  was  likely  to 
prove  fatal.  A  stranger  in  the  city  might  have  supposed 
some  terrible  pestilence  was  raging,  when  thus  at  mid- 
night every  man  was  seeking  a  doctor.  Enemies,  who 
had  not  spoken  for  years,  made  friends  and  shook  hands 

18* 


210  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

over  the  event.  The  bells  rang  a  merry  peal,  as  if  upon 
the  birth  of  a  prince,  and  everything  bespoke  an  event  of 
national  joy.  When  the  gentlemen  of  the  Star-Chamber 
Committee  heard  that  Mattie  wept,  they  shook  hands  over 
the  event,  and  called  it  Triumph  I  They  congratulated 
each  other,  and  invited  each  other  to  oysters,  to  sherry 
cobblers,  to  juleps,  to  wine,  to  brandy.  Each  one  treated 
the  other,  and  ate,  and  drank,  and  laughed,  and  smoked, 
and  joked,  and  feasted ;  gloriously  feasted  on  the  tears 
wrung  from  a  woman,  because  her  father  was  a  cripple, 
she  had  no  brother,  and  could  not  vote !  And  these  are  a 
few  of  the  scenes  which  are  daily  being  acted  in  our 
midst,  and  we  dream  not  of  them.  We  little  suspect  the 
wrongs,  the  oppressions,  the  insults,  the  lies,  the  mis- 
representations which  are  daily  heaped  upon  such  as  are 
unfurnished  with  the  protection  of  strength,  social  or 
natural.  If  a  woman  is  well  sustained  by  powerful  rela- 
tions of  the  masculine  gender,  such  as  have  both  a  fist 
and  a  vote,  she  is  in  some  measure  secure  from  the  assaults 
of  cowardly  scoundrels ;  but  if  she  is  lonely  and  unpro- 
tected,— alas  for  the  poor  woman  ! 

The  Star-Chamber  Committee  were  so  elated  by  their 
success  in  making  a  woman  weep  that  quite  a  new  im- 
pulse was  given  to  their  energies,  and  as  soon  as  their 
orgies  were  over,  each  ran  off  in  a  different  direction  to 
establish  something  new  and  call  it  Triumph.  Mr.  Abbet- 
tor  opened  a  new  policy-office,  and  called  it  Triumph.  .Mr. 
McGilhooter  stole  a  new  sermon  and  called  it  Triumph. 
Dr.  Iluntemup  hastened  off  to  the  causeway  mission,  he 
said,  to  make  a  new  proselyte  and  call  her  Triumph.  A 
good  chance  to  be  a  villain  with  impunity  is  that  causeway 
mission  ;  but  the  All-seeing  Eye  is  not  deceived,  and  a  day 
of  reckoning  will  come. 

Mr.  Slytickle  was  in  his  recitation-room  on  the  morning 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  211 

after  the  vote  of  censure  had  been  read,  and  on  Mattie's 
arrival  at  school  she  immediately  sought  his  presence.  She 
tapped  gently  at  the  door,  but  so  absorbed  was  she  in  her 
own  reflections  that  she  unconsciously  opened  the  door 
before  a  response  came  from  within.  Mr.  Sly  tickle  was 
absorbed,  too,  and  had  not  heard  the  rap,  so  that  Mattie 
stood  beside  him  ere  he  was  aware  that  his  solitude  was 
invaded.  The  happy  man  was  standing  near  a  window, 
a  bottle  of  Plantation  Bitters  in  one  hand,  a  goblet  filled 
with  the  same  in  the  other.  He  held  the  glass  between 
himself  and  the  light,  gazing  rapturously  upon  its  ruby  con- 
tents, evidently  enjoying  in  anticipation  its  spicy  flavor. 
He  seemed  afraid  to  drink  lest  the  pleasure  should  be  past ; 
but  would  put  the  draught  alternately  to  his  nose  and  lips, 
then,  shutting  one  eye,  would  look  down  into  its  depths 
and  smile  lovingly,  as  a  fond  mother  might  smile  upon  a 
sleeping  babe.  So  deeply  was  he  absorbed  that  Mattie 
had  to  touch  his  arm  to  arouse  him  from  this  reverie  of  love. 

With  manifest  detection  and  evident  alarm,  the  lover  of 
spice  and  spirit  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  yes,  Miss  Douglas,  I  don't 
mean  anything,  but  I  have  a  pain  here,"  pressing  his  hand 
upon  his  stomach.  He  would  fain  have  hid  both  bottle 
and  glass,  but  finding  it  impossible,  he  put  the  best  face 
upon  the  accident,  and  tried  to  blind  the  most  unwelcome 
visitor  with  words  and  explanations. 

"  This  is  medicine,  Miss  Douglas.  I  have  a  weakness 
of  the  stomach  [still  pressing  his  hands  upon  the  part 
named],  and  my  physician  advised  me  to  take  this  ;  won't 
you  taste  it?" 

"No,  I  thank  you,"  she  replied.  "  I  am  fortunate  in  not 
having  a  diseased  stomach." 

"  Or  a  diseased  head,  either,"  said  he,  "  or  you  must  have 
died  yesterday.  I  pitied  you  from  my  heart,  but  was  com- 
pelled to  do  what  I  did  or  else  lose  my  situation." 


212  DOINGS   IN  MARYLAND, 

Said  Mattie,  "  I  am  entirely  at  a  loss  as  to  my  crime.  I 
can  imagine  no  adequate  cause  for  all  this  display  of 
severity." 

"  But  you  presume  to  have  opinions  and  to  act  upon 
them,  and  that  don't  suit  this  locality.  Independence  of 
thought  and  action  don't  thrive  in  this  atmosphere.  I  told 
you  before  we  were  ruled  by  a  rod  of  iron,  and  now  you 
feel  it,"  said  Slytickle. 

"  But  I  am  accused,  most  unjustly,  of  a  want  of  principle, 
when,  in  fact,  a  strict  adherence  to  truth  and  principle  has 
caused  my  trouble,"  said  the  sad  girl. 

Slytickle  averted  his  eyes,  and  inquired,  "Who  said 
you  were  unprincipled?" 

"Your  favorite  pupil,  Miss  Asp;  she  says  by  authority 
that  a  moral  turpitude,  a  want  of  honor  and  good  faith  has 
caused  my  trouble.  The  committee,  she  says,  deprecate 
my  connection  with  the  young,  because  of  my  unhallowed 
influence  arising  from  moral  degradation.  This  charge  is 
the  more  unkind,  because  it  is  impossible  to  disprove  it, 
coming  in  the  form  that  it  does,  and  circulated  thus 
covertly." 

u  If  any  of  the  girls  dare  tell  you  such  a  thing  I  will 
expel  them  from  the  school,"  said  Slytickle. 

"  They  do  not  tell  me,"  she  replied,  "but  they  tell  every- 
body else.  You  must  be  aware,  sir,  that  such  a  report, 
going  to  the  public,  must  be  highly  injurious  to  me." 

"Oh,  never  mind  the  public;  the  public  is  a  poor  con- 
cern, anyhow, — anybody  can  humbug  the  public  ;  you  mind 
the  committee  and  they  will  manage  the  public.  But  I 
would  rather  not  talk  any  more  on  the  subject ;  the  com- 
mittee say  I  am  all  right,  and  you  must  take  care  of  your- 
self. You  could  get  favors,  too,  if  you  were  not  so  high 
in  your  tone  ;  but,  however,  Mr.  Box  wants  your  situation 
for  his  friend  Miss  Becky  Sharp, — she  does  not  like  Fizzle, 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  213 

of  the  Western  Factory;  but,  for  gracious  sake,  don't  tell 
them  that  I  told  you!  Miss  Ursa  Minor  is  high  up,  too, 
with  expectation,  and  her  father  is  running1  all  about  town 
making  religious  interest  for  her,  so  I  don't  know  how  it 
will  end ;  but  I  advise  you  to  do  like  the  rest, — trick 
and  truckle,  and  keep  your  place." 

Said  she,  "  Mr.  Slytickle,  I  will  never  either  trick  or 
truckle,  so  help  me  Heaven  I"  And  the  hand  that  had 
thrown  the  inkstand  long  years  before,  was  again  stretched 
forth  in  the  energy  of  its  purpose.  "  I  ask,"  she  continued, 
"but  justice ;  and  surely  I  have  a  right  to  expect  that,  if 
nothing  more." 

"  J-u-s — t-i-c-e  !"  sneered  Slytickle.  "  Why,  child,  the 
damned  in  hell  have  a  right  to  demand  justice,  and  they 
get  it,  too;  but  never  expect  justice  from  that  committee." 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

THE    CONGRESS   OF    ASSES. 

"And  such  a  crafty  devil  as  his  mother 
Should  yield  the  world  this  ass,  a  woman  that 
Bears  all  down  with  her  brain ;  and  this  her  son 
Cannot  take  two  from  twenty  for  his  heart, 
And  leave  eighteen." 

Mattie  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Board,  requesting  to 
be  released  from  her  present  position,  and  returned  to  a 
school  similar  to  the  one  from  which  she  had  been  taken 
when  promoted  to  the  Factory.  In  her  communication 
she  made  no  complaint,  except  a  gentle  hint  at  indignities 
which  she  had  been  made  to  suffer.     Upon  the  reading  of 


214  VOLVOS  IX  MARYLAND, 

the  letter  before  the  sapient  body  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed, there  arose  a  discussion  worthy  of  the  enlight- 
ened age  in  which  we  live,  worthy  of  imitation  by  all 
succeeding  ages  and  by  all  succeeding  congresses  of 
asses. 

Kirk  arose,  and,  with  genuine  honesty,  a  rare  trait, 
moved  that  "a  committee  be  appointed  to  investigate  the 
affair,  and  ascertain  what  were  the  indignities  of  which 
Miss  Douglas  complained." 

This  brought  Abettor  to  his  feet.  "  He  considered  such 
a  motion  a  direct  insult  to  the  committee,"  he  said.  "  It 
was  an  imputation  upon  the  honor  and  integrity  of  that 
committee,  and  he,  as  its  chairman,  would  resist  unto  the 
death  any  such  motion." 

Said  Kirk,  "If  the  skirts  of  the  committee  are  clear  of 
censure  in  this  affair,  why  do  they  shirk  an  investigation  ?" 

Said  Abettor,  "  We  shirk  an  imputation  upon  our  honor, 
and  what  honorable  man  would  not?  This  motion  to 
investigate  our  conduct  supposes  upon  its  very  face  that 
some  injustice  has  been  done ;  and  this  we  deny." 

Said  Kirk,  "I  suppose  the  Factory  Committee  don't 
assume  to  be  anything  more  than  human,  and  to  err  is 
human  by  all  allowed;  but  if  that  committee  profess  im- 
peccability, why  not  submit  their  official  conduct  to  the 
inspection  of  this  Board  and  have  their  claim  established, 
then  sail  away  with  colors  flying,  drums  beating,  and  the 
crowd  cheering  ?  With  respect  to  Miss  Douglas,  this 
Board  knows  enough  of  her  to  believe  she  would  not  com- 
plain without  cause." 

Box  was  only  waiting  for  Kirk  to  take  breath  when  he 
bounded  to  the  floor  like  a  ball.  "Mr.  President,"  said 
he,  "  I  agree  with  our  worthy  chairman  in  repudiating  an 
investigation  into  the  conduct  of  this  committee  ;  not  be- 
cause we  are  afraid  of  an  investigation,  but  the  mere  men- 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  215 

tion  of  it  implies  censure,  and  we  will  not  submit  to 
censure  even  by  implication.  Our  official  acts  are  above 
suspicion,  as  Caesar  said  his  wife  should  be,  and  we 
spurn  with  contempt  any  and  every  insinuation  from 
every  and  any  quarter.  I  move,  therefore,  that  if  this 
investigation  be  pressed,  that  every  member  of  the  com- 
mittee resign,  and  next  fall,  at  the  polls,  we  will  not  for- 
get the  treatment  we  may  receive  here  to-day.  I  suppose 
gentlemen  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  every  member  of 
this  committee  has  a  vote  ?  Miss  Douglas  has  no  vote, 
thank  Heaven  ;  and,  therefore,  those  who  favor  her  have 
everything  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain  by  such  a  move- 
ment." 

The  President  of  the  School  Board  was  an  out-and-out 
politician  ;  he  had  been  to  the  State  Legislature,  and  now 
he  wanted  to  go  to  the  National  Congress.  The  threat  of 
Box  struck  home  with  interest,  as  he  knew  it  would. 

Dr.  Huntemup  next  arose.  "  I  would,"  said  he,  "  almost 
as  soon  take  oue  of  my  own  prescriptions  as  meet  the 
member  from  the  Seventh  Ward  in  debate,  he  is  so  ultra, 
so  rabid,  so  unreasonable  ;  but  as  a  member  of  this  com- 
mittee, my  honor  is  impugned,  and  for  that  reason,  as 
well  as  for  the  sake  of  my  estimable  coadjutors,  I  must 
speak  in  this  case ;  and  now  for  the  facts.  Ever  since 
Miss  Douglas  has  been  in  the  Factory  she  has  been — re- 
factory  and  insubordinate,  presuming  to  have  opinions  of 
her  own,  which  she  sets  up  in  opposition  to  everybody 
else  ;  but  we  have  borne  with  her  in  silence, — why  ?  Sim- 
ply because  she  was  a  woman,  a  helpless  woman  who  had 
no  vote,  and  consequently  no  influence  over  even  herself; 
for  in  this  world,  where  everything  goes  by  voting,  a 
thing  that  can't  vote  is  nothing,  or,  as  the  great  Napoleon 
said,  '  only  those  have  rights  who  know  how  to  maintain 
them  ;'  consequently,  by  that  rule,  woman  has  none,  and  is, 


216  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

therefore,  a  mere  reptile,  a  worm  of  the  earth.  But  al- 
though Miss  Douglas  was  a  worm,  we  scorned  to  tread 
upou  her,  until  it  became  absolutely  necessary  to  protect 
Slytickle  from  her  sting.  Why,  gentlemen,"  said  the 
doctor,  growing  pathetically  eloquent,  "  do  you  suppose 
that  the  gentlemen  who  compose  this  committee  are  not 
gentlemen  ?  Do  you  suppose  they  would  ill-treat  a  woman 
simply  because  she  was  such  and  had  no  vote  ?  For  my 
part,  I  scorn  a  woman  and  love  her  too — because  I  have 
read  the  great  Euripides  on  that  subject.  Yes,  gentle- 
men  "     Here  the  Chair  reminded  the  doctor  that  he 

must  address  "  itself  and  not  gentlemen."  "  I  ask  pardon 
of  the  Chair,  sir ;  but  do  you,  sir — Chair,  think  that  I 
would  wound  the  feelings  of  a  pure  and  high-minded 
woman  like  Miss  Douglas?  True,  'those  who  are  whole 
need  not  a  physician,'  and  I  know  that  the  lady  in  ques- 
tion don't  need  my  sympathy,  but  she  has  it  nevertheless ; 
and  although  she  has  acted  towards  Slytickle  like  a  ter- 
magant, a  she-dragon,  an  imp  from  a  place  I  would  not 
like  to  mention  (and  such  a  fire-and-brimstone  life  as  she 
has  led  him!),  yet,  because  she  was  of  the  tender  gender, 
we  bore  with  her  in  mute  despair,  our  hearts  lacerated 
and  bleeding  with  sorrow  that  we  had  made  such  an  un- 
fortunate selection  for  the  Factory  in  which  is  manufac- 
tured the  ladies  of  this  great  land ;  yes,  the  ladies,  not 
only  for  home  consumption,  but  for  foreign  exportation." 
Dr.  Huntemup  sat  down  perfectly  exhausted. 

Kirk  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant.  Said  he,  "  Does  the 
gentleman  who  just  took  his  scat  have  the  audacity  to  say 
in  the  face  of  open  day  that  Miss  Douglas  was  an  unfor- 
tunate selection  for  the  Factory,  when  it  is  known  by  the 
whole  community  that  the  school  has  improved  a  hun- 
dred per  cent,  since  she  went  into  it?  What  was  the 
character  of  that  institution  before  she  went  there  ?     The 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  2 It 

Bcorn  of  the  community  and  an  eye-sore  to  the  founders  of 
it.  Well,  what  is  it  now?  Why,  the  school  is  sought 
after  as  something  really  worthy  of  credit,  and  that  simply 
because  Miss  Douglas  is  in  it.  She  is  the  only  teacher 
there  capable  of  sustaining  the  character  of  the  institution, 
or  rather  of  giving  character  to  it.  Take  her  out,  and  it 
will  soon  return  to  the  condition  in  which  she  found  it. 
As  to  Slytickle,  I  believe  him  to  be  a  cowardly,  sniveling, 
sneaking  dog,  that  will  run  behind  and  bite  without  even 
the  courage  to  bark.  For  my  part,  I  cannot  understand 
how  he  has  succeeded  in  enlisting  so  much  of  the  good 
opinion  of  the  committee.  The  story  set  afloat  that  he  is 
tyrannized  over  by  Miss  Douglas,  I  believe  to  be  a  mere 
fabrication,  a  howl  to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  the  com- 
mittee. Altogether  the  affair  is  mysterious,  and  I  press 
the  motion  for  an  investigation." 

McGilhooter  was  standing  behind  the  drapery  wrhich 
fell  at  the  back  of  the  President's  chair,  and  an  attentive 
listener  to  all  that  was  passing;  he  now  drew  aside  the 
drapery  sufficiently  to  allow  himself  to  be  seen  obscurely, 
and  commenced  gesticulating  violently  to  Mr.  Abbettor. 
That  worthy,  upon  receiving  this  mute,  but  significant, 
summons,  instantly  left  his  seat  and  dodged  behind  the 
curtain. 

"Here,  here,  be  quick!"  said  Mac,  "and  get  this  pre- 
amble and  resolution  through  the  Board  ;  you  don't  know 
what  turn  things  may  take  through  Kirk  and  his  investi- 
gating committee." 

Abbettor  did  as  directed,  and  presented  the  following  : 

"Whereas,  The  career  of  Miss  Douglas,  as  a  teacher, 
has  been  like  the  booming  of  a  great  gun  upon  the  wide 
ocean,  or  like  the  looming  up  of  a  meteor  in  brilliant  cor- 
uscations ;  like  the  flame  of  the  rainbow  in  its  loveliest 
tints ;  like  the  odor  that  arises  from  a  field  of  pepper,  or 

19 


218  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

the  glancing  of  the  sun  upon  an  army  with  screwed  bayo- 
nets ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  this  Board  do  regard  her  withdrawal 
from  the  Eastern  Factory  with  the  deepest  regret ;  yet,  as 
her  high-wrought  and  refined  sensibilities  cannot  be  happy 
in  a  subordinate  position,  be  it  resolved  that  this  Board  do 
gratify  Miss  Douglas's  request  and  appoint  her  Principal 
of  Perdition  School  on  Grindstone  Point." 

The  resolution  passed,  and  Mattie  was  declared  Princi- 
pal of  Perdition  School. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  Board,  the  conspirators 
met  at  rendezvous  as  usual.  Said  Box,  his  bald  head 
shining  like  polish,  "  We  have  not  had  half  fun  enough  ; 
can  we  not  torment  this  wild-cat  some  more  ?" 

"Wait,"  said  McGilhooter,  "we  have  her  in  a  tight 
place  now,  this  queen  of  perdition  !  She  will  have  nothiug 
but  grindstones  to  teach  where  she  is  going,  and  if  the 
school  does  not  succeed,  as  of  course  it  cannot,  we  will 
make  that  fact  an  excuse  for  turning  her  out  altogether. 
Hip  !  hurrah  !" 

And  the  holy  man  threw  up  his  hat  in  an  ecstasy  of 
joyful  anticipation  of  more  fun. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  210 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

LATIN. 

"He  who  binds 
His  soul  to  knowledge  steals  the  key  of  Heaven  ; 
Bat 'tis  a  bitter  mockery,  that  the  fruit 
May  hang  within  his  reach,  and  when,  with  thirst 
Wrought  to  a  maddening  frenzy,  he  would  taste, 

It  burns  his  lips  to  ashes." 

Mattie  had  attended  her  father  at  breakfast,  had  seen 
his  bed  made  and  himself  carefully  returned  to  it,  had 
kissed  him  good-by  for  the  day,  and  was  issuing  from  the 
street-door,  on  her  way  to  school,  when  a  gentleman,  whose 
proximity  she  had  not  observed,  sprang  upon  the  step  and 
inquired  "if  that  was  the  residence  of  Miss  Douglas,  and 
if  he  could  see  her." 

"I  am  the  person,"  she  replied.     "Please  walk  in,  sir." 

The  man  being  seated  opened  his  business.  "  I  have 
called  upon  you,  madam,"  said  he,  "to  obtain,  if  possible, 
your  co-operation  in  a  new  educational  enterprise  about  to 
be  undertaken  by  some  friends  and  myself,  and  for  the  suc- 
cess of  which  we  are  extremely  desirous." 

11  In  what  manner  can  I  aid  you  ?"  said  Mattie. 

"  By  becoming  our  general  superintendent,"  he  replied. 

"  Please  explain  yourself,  sir." 

"  We  wish  you  to  take  charge  of  the  entire  establish- 
ment, as  it  will  be  situated  in  the  country,  and,  we  think, 
if  you  would  throw  your  unequaled  energy  and  superior 
ability  into  it,  we  need  have  no  fears  for  the  result." 

"  Are  you  aware,  sir,  that  I  have  a  sick  father  whom  I 
would  be  compelled  to  take  with  me  ?" 


220  DOTNGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"No,  indeed,''  said  the  man  in  great  surprise.  "  I  was 
not  aware  of  that  fact." 

"  Then  the  information  will  change  your  plans  with  re- 
spect to  myself,  I  suppose?"  said  Mattie. 

"  Have  you  no  friend  with  whom  you  could  intrust 
your  sick  father  in  your  absence  ?" 

"Not  one  in  the  world;  neither  would  I  so  intrust  him 
if  I  had." 

11  Then,  indeed,  you  have  a  heavy  charge,  and  your 
enemies  have  taken  advantage  of  your  peculiar  circum- 
stances." 

"  I  should  not  have  enemies ;  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever 
deserved  any,"  said  Mattie,  sadly. 

He  smiled  a  peculiar  smile,  and  replied,  "  Why,  child, 
the  Saviour  of  mankind  had  enemies  among  the  very  peo- 
ple he  came  to  seek  and  to  save.  Why,  then,  should  the 
servant  be  greater  than  his  Lord  ?  The  world  loves  its 
own,  and  those  who  strive  after  a  higher  life  will  be  sure 
of  receiving  the  malignant  vituperation  of  such  as  feel 
their  inferiority." 

"  You  alarm  me,"  said  the  girl ;  "  has,  indeed,  a  sys- 
tematic effort  been  made  to  malign  me  ?" 

"  It  is  even  so,"  he  replied.  "  The  low  in  principle,  and 
vicious  in  heart,  with  whom  you  have  come  in  contact, 
envying  your  exalted  character  and  the  success  of  your 
labor,  have  set  you  up  as  a  target  to  be  shot  at,  and  if 
something  is  not  done  for  your  rescue,  I  cannot  predict 
the  result.  Now,  you  understand  why  I  have  sought  you 
out  and  made  to  you  the  present  offer." 

"  But  I  cannot  accept  it,"  said  the  resolute  girl,  "  because 
I  cannot  leave  my  father  ;  nothing  upon  earth  would  induce 
me  to  desert  him  or  consign  him  to  the  care  of  strangers." 

The  man  replied,  "I  am  pleased  with  your  devotion  to 
your  invalid  parent,  and  if  he  can  be  accommodated  in 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  221 

our  institution,  we  will  receive  him.  Filial  affection  is  not 
the  sin  of  the  present  generation,  and  when  a  case  occurs 
resembling  that  of  the  youth  who  carried  his  father  on  his 
back  as  the  only  thing  worth  saving  amid  a  general  con- 
flagration, it  should  receive  due  consideration." 

"  What  shall  I  be  required  to  teach  ?"  said  Mattie, 
wishing  to  put  a  stop  to  further  eulogy  on  herself. 

11  We  wish  you  to  have  the  general  oversight  of  the 
school,  and  teach  the  Latin,"  he  replied. 

"  Then  that  decides  the  matter,"  said  the  rather  disap- 
pointed teacher,  "  because  I  cannot  teach  Latin,  having 
never  studied  that  language." 

The  ambassador  seemed  determined  not  to  be  foiled  in 
his  mission,  and  though  taken  by  surprise  by  this  last  de- 
claration of  the  contracting  party,  promptly  responded, 
11  Well,  study  it  immediately,  then.  How  long  will  it 
take  you  to  acquire  it  ?" 

"  I  cannot  tell,"  she  replied,  "  how  long  it  would  require 
to  master  the  language ;  but  I  think  I  might  be  able  to 
teach  new  beginners  in  a  comparatively  short  time." 

"  Then  consider  our  arrangements  completed,"  said  the 
gentleman,  and,  handing  Mattie  his  card,  took  leave. 

Left  alone,  she  sat  and  pondered  the  wonderful  ways  of 
Providence.  "  What  strange  events  crowd  into  an  hour ! 
— events  that  change  forever  the  current  of  a  life.  People 
of  whose  existence  we  were  not  aware  cross  our  path,  and 
never  may  we  tread  the  same  again  !"  Surely  a  hand  is 
on  the  wall,  and  writes  a  language  that  is  hard  to  read. 
u  Oh,  for  a  Daniel  ever  near!"  A  voice  in  Mattie's  heart 
responded,  "  Yes,  and  the  same  hand  brings  us  to  the 
desire  of  our  hearts  by  a  road  we  never  would  have  taken  ; 
left  to  our  own  judgment,  we  would  lose  the  roses  because 
we  would  shun  the  thorns." 

Plenty  of  thorns  for  poor  Mattie  ! 
19* 


222  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XLIV. 

LATIN   AND   LOVE. 

"Latin  and  love! — Oh,  dear, 
A  compound  how  queer!" 

An  advertisement  announced  to  the  public  the  fact  that 
a  certain  "scientific  and  literary  professor," — name  with- 
held,— "  having  a  few  leisure  hours  at  his  disposal,  would 
give  private  lessons  to  individuals — ladies  and  others — in 
Latin  and  other  languages."  This  was  just  the  oppor- 
tunity Mattie  desired ;  she  gladly  embraced  it,  and  placed 
herself  under  the  instruction  of  the  advertiser,  who  turned 
out  to  be  the  distinguished  Professor  Waverly. 

The  history  of  mankind,  from  the  days  of  Abelard  and 
Heloise  to  those  of  Warren  Colburn,  perhaps  before,  cer- 
tainly since,  attests  the  fact  that  this  relation  of  teacher 
and  pupil  is  a  dangerous  one  for  people  to  occupy  after 
they  have  attained  to  the  age  of  passion.  How  more 
readily,  as  Pope  says,  can  thought  meet  thought  ere  from 
the  lips  it  part,  of  each  warm  wish,  springing  mutual  from 
the  heart,  than  when  giving  and  receiving  instruction  ! 
The  effort  to  please  as  instructor,  and  to  merit  appro- 
bation as  pupil,  begets  an  interest  in  each  other, — entirely 
Platonic  at  first,  we  admit,  but  which  insidiously  leads  on 
to  feelings  of  a  warmer  and  deeper  character.  And  we 
here  take  occasion  to  remark,  that  ladies  should  ever  be 
the  instructors  of  their  own  sex ;  and  that  this  may  be  ac- 
complished, the  standard  of  female  education  must  be  ele- 
vated ;  not,  as  Professor  Walker  says,  simply  to  improve 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  223 

the  stock  should  woman  be  improved,  but  for  the  happi- 
ness and  efficiency  of  the  parties  themselves,  as  well  as 
for  the  effect  immediately  and  remotely  upqja  society  at 
large.  And  woman,  in  order  to  assume  this  new  and  im- 
portant position,  must  forego  the  butterfly  character  she  has 
hitherto  sustained  and  become  a  rational  being.  She  must 
give  up  the  gewgaw  accomplishments,  to  excel  in  which 
has  always  been  her  sole  ambition,  and  instead  of  being 
the  plaything  of  man,  become  his  companion.  Her  heart 
must  cease  to  be  a  milliner's  shop,  as  the  Honorable  Ed- 
ward Everett  says  it  is,  and  become  rather  a  circulating 
library.  Man  will  not  deny  to  woman  the  privileges 
commonly  called  rights  when  she  is  ready  to  make  a  proper 
use  of  them,  and  man  with  his  strong  arm,  and  sometimes 
noble  heart,  must  help  her  to  the  readiness.  But  this  is  a 
digression,  and  we  bea;  leave  to  return  to  the  narrative. 

Professor  Waverly  had  arrived  nearly  at  the  meridian 
of  life,  and  was  yet  unmarried.  Possessed  of  a  fine  per- 
son and  elegant  manners,  with  all  the  accomplishments 
of  a  superior  education,  the  wonder  was  how  he  could  have 
escaped  the  many  matrimonial  snares  that  must  have  been 
laid  for  his  heart  and  hand.  The  solution  of  the  question 
is  simply  this.  The  professor's  person  and  accomplish- 
ments were  all  the  capital  he  possessed,  and,  like  a  sensi- 
ble man,  he  determined  to  invest  to  the  best  advantage ; 
or,  in  other  words,  he  was  a  determined  fortune-hunter, 
and  no  bait  worthy  of  his  sublime  acceptance  had  as  yet 
been  laid  at  his  elegantly  compressed  feet. 

D'Israeli  says,  "  There  is  no  love  but  love  at  first 
sight,  and  this  is  the  transcendent  and  surpassing  offspring 
of  sheer  and  unpolluted  sympathy."  We  do  not  fully  in- 
dorse this  opinion,  but  certain  it  is,  our  heroine  and  her 
teacher  were  mutually  pleased  with  each  other  the  first 
time  they  met.     Mattie  instantly  felt  that  in  ber  toilsome, 


224  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

humble  life,  secluded  from  nearly  all  the  world,  save  the 
world  of  children,  she  had  never  met  so  elegant  a  man. 
In  externals  he  was  the  very  beau  ideal  of  her  exalted 
fancy.  Every  woman  has  her  beau  ideal,  whether  she  is 
aware  of  the  fact  or  not,  and  woe  be  to  her  if  she  meet 
him  after  she  is  tied  to  another !  And  the  acute  professor 
was  not  slow  to  discover  that,  in  all  the  society  in  which 
he  had  mingled, — and  he  assiduously  sought  the  society  of 
accomplished  women, — he  had  never  met  Mattie's  superior. 
Manners  graceful  and  dignified,  sentiments  rich  and  noble, 
disposition  sweet  and  amiable,  all  this  added  to  splendid 
intellect,  made  her,  to  him  who  was  capable  of  appreciat- 
ing such  a  woman,  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  her  sex. 
The  new  pupil  entered  upon  her  study  of  Latin  with  a 
never-before-experienced  zest.  She  had  never  before  found 
anything  half  so  interesting  as  Latin  !  And  the  teacher 
acknowledged  to  himself  that  he  had  never  taught  so  in- 
teresting a  pupil.  Both  were  delighted  !  When  the  day 
on  which  the  lesson  was  to  be  given  arrived,  the  teacher 
dressed  with  as  much  studied  regard  to  effect  as  though 
he  were  going  to  pay  court  to  the  daughter  of  a  million- 
aire. He  was  restless  until  the  allotted  hour  arrived,  and 
many  minutes  before  the  specified  time  found  him  at  the  . 
door,  impatient  to  be  at  the  side  of  his  pupil,  impatient  to 
drink  in  her  dulcet  tones  and  bask  in  her  ready  smile, 
sweet  to  all  but  sweetest  far  to  him, — to  gaze  into  those 
tell-tale  eyes,  and  read  there,  what  is  ever  nectar  to  the 
vain  heart  of  man,  admiration  of  himself.  And  this  new 
feeling  which  had  taken  hold  of  Mattie,  was  to  her  so 
strange,  so  inexplicable.  She  had  many  heroes  of  regard 
in  history,  literature,  and  science ;  but  this  bowing  of  the 
soul  to  a  living  being  was  like  bewitchment.  It  is  said, 
when  persons  are  under  the  influence  of  a  snake-charm 
specks  of  gold  and  purple  float  before  the  excited  vision 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  225 

of  the  unfortunate  victim,  and  so  bewilder  his  sense  of 
Bight  that  he  does  not  see  the  reptile  in  its  true  shape. 
Love  we  have  always  thought  similar  in  its  effects  to  the 
spell  produced  by  an  unhallowed  incantation,  or  the  result 
of  some  kind  of  animal  magnetism,  and  if  not  as  unrea- 
sonable as  the  one,  quite  as  undefinable  as  the  other.  The 
charmer  or  magnetizer,  in  this  case,  gave  undisguised  evi- 
dence of  an  intention  to  weave  a  spell,  or  render  powerless 
a  will.  The  pupil  must  have  been  prodigiously  expert,  or 
else  the  praise  she  received  was  prodigiously  extravagant, 
for  never  did  teacher  dote  upon  one  with  such  unbounded 
admiration.  His  every  look  was  one  of  adoration,  he 
never  spoke  but  to  praise,  and  his  low  and  thrilling  tones 
were  evidently  the  involuntary  emission  of  a  smouldering 
volcano. 

Said  the  either  bewitched  or  devil-possessed  man, 
"  Miss  Douglas,  for  your  next  lesson  conjugate  the  verb 
'a-mo;1 "  and,  marking  deeply  with  his  thumb-nail  "a-mat," 
"  a-ma-bit,"  he  handed  her  the  grammar.  As  she  was  in 
the  act  of  receiving  the  book  he  fixed  his  burning  gaze  upon 
her,  and  quite  thrown  off  his  guard  by  the  impulse  of  the 
moment,  he  exclaimed,   "  Oh,  Miss  Douglas,  could  I  but 

hope "     He  stopped  abruptly,  colored  deeply,  by  a 

vigorous  effort  controlled  himself,  and,  snatching  up  his 
hat,  precipitately  left  the  house. 

The  sun  in  all  his  glory  had  burst  upon  Mattie  with  a 
brilliancy  that  was  overpowering;  she  fell  upon  her  knees, 
and,  raising  her  clasped  hands  to  heaven,  exclaimed, 
11  What  shall  I  render  to  thee,  O  God,  for  this  gracious 
gift  ?"  Her  fluttering  heart  had  completed  the  unfinished 
sentence,  and,  like  a  dove  that  has  been  exiled  from  the 
parent  cote  and  longs  again  to  fold  its  weary  wings  at 
home,  so  yearned  this  love-bewildered  girl  to  pour  the 
rich  treasure  of  her  trusting  heart  into  the  (as  she  thought) 


226  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

noble  and  manly  bosom  that  had  opened  to  receive  it. 
"  He  loves  me !  he  loves  me !"  was  her  constant  and  ex- 
ultant thought  by  day  and  by  night.  Night !  there  was 
no  night  for  her.  All  the  dark  hours  appropriated  to 
repose  she  lay  upon  her  pillow,  sleepless,  tossed  by  a 
flood  of  deepest,  intensest  feeling.  A  feeling  too  over- 
powering to  be  controlled,  too  sweet  to  wish  it  less.  Some 
persons  grow  thin  and  pale  under  love's  influence,  but 
love  caused  Mattie  to  bloom  like  the  rose.  It  was  as  sun- 
shine to  the  flower,  it  was  ambrosial  food  that  nourished 
her,  as  such  food  did  the  gods  of  olden  times.  Her  cheek, 
thin  and  pale,  by  reason  of  the  mental  suffering  she  had 
endured  of  late,  now  regained  its  former  freshness,  and 
rounded  out  to  meet  another  cheek  half  way.  Her  step 
again  became  elastic,  her  eye  beamed  with  a  softer  light, — 
a  light  which  told  plainer  than  words  could  have  done  of 
the  warm,  sweet,  glowing  ray  of  richest  sunshine  that 
rested  upon  her  heart.  She  softly  whispered  to  herself, 
11  Henceforth  earth  has  no  tears  for  me;  folded  in  bis  pro- 
tecting love,  what  have  I  to  fear  ?"  And  in  the  fullness  of 
her  joy,  she  cried  out,  "  Oh,  life,  how  fair  !  I  thought  life 
a  gloomy  cell  of  stern  duty,  of  constant  penance,  and  con- 
tinual stripes ;  but,  oh,  the  joy  of  being  loved  ! — surely  it 
is  a  foretaste  of  the  Paradise  of  God, — it  is  the  ante- 
chamber to  that  great  temple  in  eternity  whose  glorious 
arena  is  but  the  expansion  of  love,  and  whose  courts  are 
thronged  by  those  who  forever  sing  pseans  of  praise  to 
never-dying  love !  love  1  love  !" 

{Professor  Waverhfs  Soliloquy.) 

"Whew!  I  came  very  near  committing  myself  that 
time.  I  shall  have  to  be  careful  or  I  shall  really  and 
fatally  love  that  girl, — and  she  poor  !    Humph  1    I'd  be  a 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  22? 

precious  fool,  if,  after  waiting  half  a  lifetime  for  an  opportu- 
nity to  improve  my  fortune,  I  were  to  marry  a  poor  woman 
and  teach  for  a  living !  Oh,  no,  not  any,  I  thank  you,  Mr. 
Waverly.  Were  I  rich,  though,  I  would  marry  her,  for 
she  is  a  splendid  woman,  and  my  heart  does  strangely 
turn  towards  her ;  I  never  felt  so  happy  in  the  society  of 
a  woman  as  I  do  in  hers."  Here  the  professor  advanced 
to  the  glass,  turned  round  and  round  his  splendid  person, 
drew  apart  his  lips  to  examine  the  collected  beauty  of  his 
set  teeth.  He  talks  to  himself,  "  I  evidently  absorb  her, 
too ;  I  appropriate  her  heart's  best  drop  as  the  vagrant 
bee  appropriates  the  drop  of  sweetest  nectar  contained  in 
Flora's  richest  flowers — bee  !  pooh  !  No, — as  the  mighty 
sun  absorbs  and  lays  in  his  capacious  storehouse  the 
choicest  dew  from  morning's  earliest  prime.  Neither  is 
this  the  first  fair  flower  that  has  paled  at  my  approach, 
whose  leaves  have  rustled  with  delicious  tremor  by  the 
swaying  of  my  breath  ;  but  golden  charms  are  the  charms 
for  me,  flowers  of  fadeless  metal  must  be  mine !  Yes, 
these  are  the  Rachel  for  whom  I  have  toiled  twice  four- 
teen years  ;  and  shall  I  let  a  momentary  weakness  over- 
come all  acquired  by  the  past  ?  No !  my  man-heart  be 
strong,  and  say  to  the  wild  waves  of  passion,  Thus  far 
shalt  thou  come  and  no  farther,  and  here  shall  thy  strong 
billows  break.  Gad  1  but  what  a  narrow  escape  I  made, 
though  ! — had  I  said  another  word  I  should  have  been 
fairly  committed, — could  not  in  honor  have  retracted." 

Honor!  oh,  the  mockery  of  that  word!  Is  there  no 
treachery  save  in  sounds  and  characters  ?  Have  acts  and 
looks  no  language?  Can  vibrating  air  alone,  or  the 
staiued  page,  be  the  herald  of  a  lie  ? 


228  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    XLV. 

SURPRISE. 

"  Thou  look'st  a  very  statue  of  surprise, 
As  if  a  lightning  blast  had  dried  thee  up 
And  had  not  left  thee  moisture  for  a  tear." 

A  kind  note  from  Mattie's  teacher  informed  her  that 
he  would  be  absent  from  home  for  a  week  or  more  ;  he 
was  going  to  lecture  in  an  adjoining  city;  the  subject 
chosen,  he  said,  was  the  Omnipotence  of  Weakness!  He 
then  gave  a  succinct  account  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
intended  to  treat  the  subject,  and  remarked  that  for  the 
public  rendering,  he  only  regretted  the  want  of  inspira- 
tion her  presence  would  afford.  During  his  absence,  he 
wished  her  to  pursue  her  studies  regularly  and  translate 
a  portion  of  Latin  every  day  ;  on  his  return  he  would 
examine  her  work;  "and  as  she  had,"  he  said,  "intuitively 
what  others  only  obtained  by  laborious  study,  he  had  no 
doubt  of  her  ability  to  progress  in  the  absence  of  assist- 
ance." 

Mattie  required  no  other  incentive  than  his  slightest 
wish,  and  worked  at  the  Latin  as  children  must  gather 
rose-leaves  for  making  attar.  Every  word  translated  was 
tinted  with  a  rosy  hue,  and  fragrant  as  the  garden  of 
Eden,  because  embalmed  in  sweet  thoughts  of  the  loved 
and  absent.  Loved  ones  arc  always  dearest  when  away, 
— something  may  happen, — he  may  never  return.  Oh,  the 
crashing  thought, — he  may  never  return!  This  loved  one 
did    return,    however,    and    then    lie   speedily   sought    his 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  229 

pupil,  then  he  lavished  unbounded  praise  upon  her  in- 
dustry aud  ability,  then  his  glance  was  so  tender  and 
loving-  it  tore  every  fiber  of  the  poor  girl's  magnetized 
heart  asunder  like  as  a  bombshell  thrown  among  children 
— an  unsuspecting  crowd  of  little  ones  at  play — tears  to 
tatters  their  yielding  limbs,  and  sprinkles  the  earth  with 
their  innocent  blood. 

Praise  from  others  only  strengthened  Mattie's  heart  for 
exertion  as  meat  strengthens  the  body  for  labor ;  but  sweet 
words  of  approbation  from  him  acted  upon  her  like  draughts 
of  fourth-proof  brandy,  exhilarating,  intoxicating,  madden- 
ing her  brain,  boiling  along  her  blood.  The  good  providence 
of  God  must  interpose  or  Mattie  will  be  a  maniac. 

Those  who  have  passed  through  the  dreadful  ordeal  im- 
posed by  Love,  will  readily  understand  this  part  of  my 
narrative ;  and  those  who  have  not,  let  them  pray  to  Heaven 
that  they  never  may. 

How  long  this  terrible  dream  might  have  lasted,  how 
long  it  might  have  pleased  the  learned  professor  thus  to 
torture  his  victim,  thus  to  gloat  upon  the  delirium  of  love 
he  had  inspired,  thus  to  bask  in  the  blaze  he  had  kindled, 
and,  by  adroit  coquetry,  kept  burning,  it  is  impossible  to 
say,  had  not  accident  frightened  the  fox  from  his  cover 
and  sent  him  posting  from  his  bower  of  sweets.  Accident 
we  say,  in  common  parlance,  but  the  interpositions  of  Provi- 
dence always  appear  fortuitous, — "  all  chance  direction 
which  thou  canst  not  see." 

Ever-vigilant  neighbors  were  not  slow  to  observe  the 
stated  visits  of  the  elegant-looking  gentleman  to  the  resi- 
dence of  Mattie  and  her  invalid  father,  and  foremost  among 
whom  was  the  much-insulted  Mrs.  Podinger,  who,  since 
Mattie's  rejection  of  her  son,  had  followed  the  "scornful, 
upish  gal,"  as  she  called  her,  with  a  malignant  and  de- 
tracting eye.     Said  the  old  woman,  "Is'pose  she'll  be  a 

20 


230  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

takin'  to  him,  he's  so  grand-looking;  my  Philpot  warn't 
grand  enough  for  her.  I  hope  to  Heaven  that  dandy-look- 
ing fellow  will  break  her  heart !"  Mrs.  Podinger's  chari- 
table wish  came  very  near  fulfillment. 

The  news  soon  found  its  way  to  the  schools  that  Mattie 
had  a  beau.  She  never  made  her  affairs  public :  how 
else,  then,  could  the  stated  visits  of  the  professor  be  in- 
terpreted ?  Being  a  man  of  mark  in  the  profession,  his 
friends  soon  became  aware  of  the  report,  and  eventually,  of 
course,  the  gossip  reached  the  man's  own  ears,  when  he 
heard  with  dismay  that  he  was  the  imputed  lover  of  Ma- 
tilda Douglas.  Nothing  on  earth  could  have  caused  the 
philosopher  more  alarm.  The  direful  disarrangement  of 
all  his  plans  for  the  future  would  be  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence were  it  known  to  the  Peacocks,  whose  favor  he 
assiduously  courted,  that  he  danced  attendance  upon  this 
obscure  individual.  His  resolution  was  instantly  taken, 
he  would  terminate  his  engagement  to  this  pupil,  and  that 
right  speedily.  Mean  minds  are  alwa}Ts  suspicious,  and 
this  giant  in  books,  but  pigmy  in  principle,  instantly  sus- 
pected that  Mattie,  in  the  pride  of  having  caught  such  a 
feather  in  her  cap,  had  paraded  it,  and  boasted  of  her  con- 
quest. "I  shall  punish  her  presumption,"  said  the  book- 
bloated  man  of  worldly  aspirations.  This  surmise,  how- 
ever, the  offspring  of  sheer  vanity,  did  the  unpretending 
girl  rank  injustice.  His  name  was  too  sacred  with  her  to 
be  lightly  spoken,  the  air  had  never  caught  it  from  her 
lips ;  in  her  devotion,  when  she  prayed  for  him,  her  lips 
were  firmest  set,  and  she  then  prayed  deepest  down  in  her 
heart, 

Mattie's  next  lesson  in  Latin  taught  her  a  sad  lesson  of 
the  uncertainty  of  all  earthly  prospects.  A  sad  and  woeful 
change  came  over  her  sweet,  but  most  evanescent,  dream. 

The  teacher  was  cold,  sullen,  haughty,  and  in  his  angry 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  231 

bearing,  almost  insolent.     The   pupil  was  overwhelmed 

with  astonishment,  with  grief,  with  dismay.  "  What  have 
I  done  to  occasion  his  displeasure  ?"  she  constantly  asked 
herself ;  but  herself  could  give  no  reply.  "  I  will  ask  him," 
she  determined ;  but  her  attempt  at  an  explanation  failed, 
her  tongue  cleaved  to  the  roof  of  her  mouth,  her  lips  refused 
to  shape  the  words,  her  tormentor  was  so  unapproachably 
haughty.  She  was  reading  Latin :  blunder  followed  blunder 
in  quick  succession  ;  love  quite  obscured  the  Latin.  He 
saw  the  conflict  that  was  going  on  in  the  mind  of  his  victim, 
and  looked  on  with  feelings  akin  to  the  feelings  of  a  canni- 
bal who,  with  watering  mouth,  watches  the  broiling  of  a 
plump  infant,  and  knows  by  its  faint  and  fainter  moan 
that  it  is  almost  cooked.  At  length,  when  his  cannibal 
appetite  was  sated  with  the  sight  of  broiling  humanity,  he 
brought  the  lesson  to  a  close,  and  informed  the  roasted  girl 
that  the  next  operation  of  the  kind  would  close  the  series, 
as  he  could  attend  to  business  of  that  kind  no  longer.  The 
announcement  struck  like  a  bullet  through  her  brain,  stun- 
ning, confounding.  He  knew  it  would.  We  have  seen  be- 
fore, however,  that  Mattie  possessed  strength  of  will  when 
driven  to  the  use  of  it.  With  powerful  effort  she  forced  back 
the  tide  that  was  rushing  upon  her  heart,  and  replied,  with 
assumed  composure,  "  that  she  was  extremely  sorry  to  be 
deprived  so  soon  of  his  valuable  aid  in  the  prosecution  of 
her  study."  He  curled  his  lip  in  magnificent  scorn,  and 
coolly  bade  her  a  good-evening.  His  manner  of  bidding 
adieu  formerly,  had  been  to  gayly  kiss  the  book  as  he  re- 
turned it  to  her  hand.  Caesar,  when  writing  his  Commen- 
taries, must  have  smiled  over  the  most  annoying  episodes 
had  he  known  how  often  and  devoutly  his  work  would 
have  been  kissed  by  a  learned  professor. 

The  unsophisticated  girl,  left  alone,  thus  soliloquized : 
11  This  must  be  some  illusion !     I  must  be  under  a  strange 


232  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

hallucination !     Is  that  man  who  left  just  now  my  former 
teacher,  or  am  I  dreaming  ?     Ah  !   I  have  it :   this  is  a 
love  device,  a  stratagem  to  try  my  temper  and  the  strength 
of  my  regard.      Yes,  the  next  lesson  will  clear  up  the 
mystery  and  put  the  matter  right."     The  poor,  afflicted 
brain,  by  reason  of  the  bullet  hole,  was  unable  to  reason 
correctly,  or  view  the  subject  in  its  proper  light.     The 
same   suffering   organ   often    asked  itself  why  it  should 
suffer  thus,  what  had  it  done  to  deserve  such  retribution 
All  unconscious  as  it  was,  this  intensely  excited  nerve- 
nucleus,  of  the  inflammation  gathering  round,  it  tried  to 
cheat  itself  into  the  belief  that  it  must  be  mistaken  about 
something  that  existed  somewhere,  and  one  more  inter- 
view with  its  loved  tyrant  would  set  all  right.     Well,  the 
next  visit  came  and  hope  went.     The  man  of  loving  gaze 
and  sweetest  tone  was  colder,  sterner,  more  haughty  than 
before,  as  impenetrable  as  stone,  and  about  as  unfeeling. 
He  went  through  the  show  of  giving  a  lesson,  but  he  never 
raised  his  eyes  from  the  page,  and  made  no  remark,  com- 
ment, or  correction.     The  lesson  being  over,  the  teacher 
arose  to  leave.    Mattie  took  out  her  purse  to  get  the  money. 
"  I  believe  I  will  not  accept  pay  for  this  my  last  lesson," 
he  said  ;  "  you  have  been  generous  to  me,  I  will  be  gen- 
erous to  you."     The  poor  girl  thought,  "  How  generous  I 
have  been  to  you,  surely  you  don't  suspect."     He  con- 
tinued: "My  object  in  giving  you  lessons  has  been  purely 
philanthropic  !" — don't  forget   he   advertised, — "  and   as 
you  have  made  such  astonishing  progress  as  to  be  able  to 
assist  yourself,  I  wish  to  be  excused  from  further  attend- 
ance."    Philanthropic  I     Good  gracious!     The  poor  girl 
had  paid  him  a  dollar  in  gold  for  every  lesson  he  afforded. 
Philanthropic  !     Fudge!     There  are  lots  of  philanthropic 
acts  in  the  world  that  pay  in  hard  coin  quite  as  well  and 
even  better  than  this. 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  233 

Mattie's  cheek  blanched,  and  her  lip  quivered,  at  this 
speech  of  the  magnanimous  man,  but  she  proudly  laid 
down  the  dollar.  The  sight  of  the  little  gold  bit  affected 
him  as  the  sight  of  a  dram  does  the  drunkard,  rendering 
itself  irresistible  to  his  loving  appetite.  He  first  glanced 
at  the  precious  metal  sideways,  then  balanced  it  on  his 
finger,  and  finally  deposited  it  in  his  pocket.  Then,  with 
a  lingering  and  evidently  expectant  manner,  the  elegant 
philanthropist  bade — farewrell ! 

"  Farewell,  sir,"  replied  the  girl,  heroically,  and  with 
rigid  politeness  bowed  him  to  the  door.  He  lingered  on 
the  step  outside  for  some  time,  expecting  to  hear  perhaps 
a  fall,  or  may-be  a  scream,  at  least  a  sob.  But  he  lingered 
in  vain ;  all  was  silent  as  the  grave. 

11  She  takes  it  coolly,"  he  muttered  to  himself,  as  he 
sheepishly  walked  away,  his  inordinate  vanity  shockingly 
chagrined  that  no  scene  had  immortalized  his  Hegira  from 
Latin  and  love.  Towards  morning,  however,  Nannie, 
Mattie's  maid  of  all  work,  was  awakened  from  her  sleep 
by  a  noise  which,  even  in  her  oblivion,  produced  by 
fatigue,  chilled  her  blood.  She  hastily  arose  and  ran  to 
the  room  of  Mr.  Douglas ;  all  was  quiet  there.  She  thought 
the  noise  must  be  in  the  street.  She  threw  up  the  window 
and  peered  forth  into  the  dark,  damp  night ;  the  tones 
still  fell  upon  her  ear,  as  if  some  one  in  deepest  pain,  un- 
able from  very  agony  to  form  complaint,  only  poured  out 
its  moan  of  anguish  in  sounds  that  could  not  be  shaped 
into  words. 

"  I  will  go  and  call  Miss  Mattie,"  she  said,  "  and  see  if 
she  can  make  it  out."  She  proceeded  to  Mattie's  room, 
and  gently  tapped  at  the  door.  The  response  that  came 
curdled  afresh  the  terrified  woman's  blood.  Trembling 
from   head  to  foot,  she  opened   the  door  and   entered  ; 

20* 


234  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

there  lay  the  unconscious  sufferer,  delirious  with  fever, 
raving  in  her  pain. 

"  She  takes  it  coolly,"  he  said;  but  he  did  not  see  her 
now. 

The  Christian's  high  festival  has  chimed  its  merry  peal 
throughout  all  Christian  lands;  the  natal  day  of  America's 
best-loved  son — the  immortal  Washington — has  been  cele- 
brated throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  majestic 
land,  and  yet  the  meek  sufferer  lies  upon  her  couch  of 
suffering.  The  soft  gales  of  spring  relax  the  frozen  earth  ; 
the  perfume  of  flowers  ascends — an  incense-offering  given 
by  the  grateful  earth  to  her  Maker — ere  the  invalid  is  able 
to  resume  her  labor.  Physicians  say  it  is  typhoid  fever 
she  has  had  ;  there  is  no  heart-fever  known  to  the  medical 
vocabulary,  and  yet  more  die  annually  of  that  than  die  of 
typhoid. 

Mattie  returned  again  to  her  duties,  but  she  labors  now 
in  the  spirit  of  a  drudge,  where  before  she  labored  in  the 
spirit  of  an  artist.  Not  all  the  tyranny  of  the  Star-Ch am- 
ber Committee  could  affect  her  thus.  Their  insolent  op- 
pression but  wounded  her  pride,  or  roused  her  indignation  ; 
but  this, — alas,  "a  wounded  spirit,  who  can  bear!"  As 
she  entered  her  school,  for  the  first  time  after  her  illness, 
a  hundred  little  bounding,  loving  hearts  leaped  high  to 
greet  her, — an  ocean  of  love  laved  her  feet ;  but,  ungrate- 
ful Mattie  !  how  willingly  would  she  have  exchanged  all 
the  pure  unadulterated  adoration  of  these  earnest,  unpol- 
luted spirits  for  one  reconciled  glance  from  his  false  eye; 
for  one  loving  word  from  his  lying  lips !  And  where,  at 
that  moment,  were  those  false  eyes  and  falser  lips?  We 
shall  see. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  235 


CHAPTER    XL  VI. 

DECEIT. 

"Though  I  do  hate  her  as  I  do  hell  pains, 
Yet  from  necessity  of  present  life 
I  must  show  out  a  flag  and  sign  of  love; 

"Which  is,  indeed,  but  sign." 

At  Mount  Monument  Place,  at  the  door  of  one  of  the 
most  elegant  mansions  of  that  elegant  neighborhood, 
stands  the  splendid  equipage  of  one  of  the  most  wealthy 
inhabitants  of  that  wealthy  locality.  The  carriage  is  oc- 
cupied by  a  lady,  apparently  in  ill  health,  going  to  take 
her  morning  drive.  This  lady  is  deformed  in  person,  and 
scarcely  better  in  mind.  The  artifice  of  art,  however, 
goes  far  to  conceal  the  bodily  malformation  ;  and  the  bril- 
liancy of  jewels,  with  the  weight  of  her  golden  prospects, 
partially  obscure  the  mental  deficiency  that  would  consign 
a  poorer  woman  to  "never-imagined  oblivion." 

Professor  Waverly  passed  just  as  the  lady  emerged 
from  the  hall-door:  with  true  turkey-buzzard  scent  he  knew 
time  and  place.  He  mounts  the  marble  steps  with  a 
single  bound,  and,  with  great  gallantry,  proffers  his  arm 
to  assist  the  lady  to  her  carriage. 

"  Oh,  you  naughty  truant,"  she  exclaims,  "  why  did  you 
not  come  to  us  last  night  ?  The  last  party  of  the  season 
too,  and  so  large  and  brilliant !" 

The  professor  bows  with  an  air  of  sorrowful  pique,  and 
replies,  "  I  knew  I  should  not  be  missed." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  were  missed,  though  !   Grandpa  was  quite 


236  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

lonesome  without  you,  and  every  time  the  door  opened 
we  were  disappointed  that  you  were  not  announced." 

"  You  make  me  proud  and  happy,"  replied  the  professor, 
bowing  profoundly  with  his  hand  upon  his  heart.  "  Par- 
don me  this  once,  and  I  promise  to  atone  in  future  for  my 
seeming  neglect." 

"  Be  sure  you  do,  then,  you  naughty  truant ;  grandpa  is 
always  so  glad  to  see  you." 

He  bowed  to  the  earth,  the  horses  dashed  off,  the  car- 
riage rolled  away  with  its  bundle  of  lace  and  jewels,  and 
the  professor  sauntered  in  another  direction.  He  was 
elated,  and  yet  sad, — sad,  because  he  felt  that  his  fate  was 
fixed  ;  elated,  because  of  the  wealth  and  position  he  would 
acquire  by  this  alliance.  But,  oh,  the  horror  of  being 
fastened  for  life  to  a  deformed  idiot,  and  he  so  intelligent, 
so  fastidious,  so  cultivated  !  The  cold  sweat  stood  in  big 
beads  upon  his  brow  as  the  thought  rushed  upon  him, 
"  And  I,  perhaps,  be  the  father  of  a  race  of  deformed 
idiots — horrible  !" 

Who  is  this  being  of  the  mantuamaker's  make  and  the 
jeweler's  creation  before  whom  the  learned  and  scientific 
man  bows  to  the  dust  as  the  Persian  to  his  sun-god  at 
early  morn?  She  is  our  old  acquaintance,  Miss  Mary 
Flum,  poor  Mattie's  earliest,  bitterest  enemy;  she  who 
so  scorned  the  child  of  poverty  at  school,  she  who  placed 
to  her  lips  the  bitter  cup  of  helpless  childhood's  wrongs. 
Surely,  "  There  is  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough- 
hew  them  how  we  will."  Much  as  the  spoilt,  spiteful  heir- 
ess admired  the  showy  professor  with  precisely  the  same 
instinct  that  she  admired  a  red  shawl,  or  a  pink  bonnet ; 
often  as  she  commanded  her  grandfather  to  get  the  hand- 
some man  for  her  husband,  just  as  she  importuned  for  a 
new  set  of  jewels,  or  a  new  carriage, — had  she  known  that 
his  hand,  the  one  she  so  much  coveted,  had  touched  the 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  237 

hand  of  Matilda  Dong-las,  that  he  had  kissed  books  to  her, 
that  although  he  tried  to  stifle  the  cry  of  nature  in  his 
heart,  he  loved  her  in  spite  of  himself, — ah  !  had  Mary 
Flum  known  that !  like  as  she  drove  the  hungry  beggar 
from  her  door,  with  taunt  and  mocking  jibe,  just  so  sav- 
agely would  she  have  driven  from  her  presence  the  elegant 
beggar,  who  modestly  asked  nothing  but  her  all. 

Ladies,  it  is  a  strange  custom  among  you  to  treat  with 
marked  courtesy  and  confidence  the  bold  mendicant  who 
asks  your  broad  acres,  that  he  may  waste  them  ;  your 
bank  stock,  that  he  may  lose  it  at  cards ;  yourselves,  that 
he  may  shut  you  up  in  a  madhouse,  if  he  please,  while 
you  spurn  from  your  gilded  sill  the  timid  wretch  that  hum- 
bly asks  a  crust  to  appease  the  gnawing  of  that  vulture — 
hunger — which,  with  ever-plunging  beak,  is  tearing  soul 
from  body !  Precisely  so  the  rogue  in  ruffles  floats  along, 
fanned  by  prospering  gales,  while  the  rogue  in  rags  rots 
out  his  wretched  life  in  dungeons  deep  as  Hades. 

Fortunately  for  the  prospects  of  the  elegant  professor, 
Miss  Flum  knew  nothing  of  his  acquaintance  with  the 
object  of  her  scornful  aversion ;  so  all  went  merry  as  a 
marriage-bell.  The  wedding  was  fixed  for  the  following 
winter,  to  come  off  at  the  banqueting  season,  when  all  the 
world  would  be  assembled  in  the  city, — all  Miss  Flum's 
world,  at  least.  The  time  had  now  arrived  for  the  ton  to 
take  their  flight  from  the  thirsty  streets,  to  catch  the  healing 
breeze  in  rural  retreats,  and  gather  roses  for  revel-robbed 
complexions;  to  rejuvenate  in  mountain-air,  bathe  in  the 
briny  surge,  and  drink  from  medicated  springs.  So  the 
Flums,  like  other  idlers,  took  up  their  line  of  march  to  make 
the  circuit  of  fashionable  travel. 

Professor  Waverly  was  now  regarded  as  one  of  the 
family,  and,  of  course,  iuvited  to  make  one  of  the  pleasure- 
party.     Great  glory  for  Miss  Flum  to  exhibit  her  elegant- 


I 

238  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

looking  and  really  intellectual  fiance,  together  with  some 
flaunting  ribbons  ;  one  as  indispensable  to  her  happiness 
as  the  other.  They  made  the  tour  of  Niagara,  Saratoga, 
Newport,  and  wherever  else  the  tide  of  fashionable  folly 
surged.  The  ladies  of  society  rolled  up  their  eyes,  drew 
down  their  brows,  extended  their  nostrils  in  wide  dis- 
gust, that  such  a  distinguished-looking  man,  and  one 
whose  cultivation  was  indisputable,  should  marry  such  a 
piece  of  idiotcy  and  deformity.  They  declared  it  was  like  i 
the  mating  of  a  bat  and  a  peacock,  or  a  splendid  Arabian 
with  a  miserable  donkey.  But  the  men  of  society  shrugged 
their  shoulders,  and  voted  him  a  "  devilish  shrewd  fel- 
low!" "Old  governor  soon  die,"  they  said,  "consumptive 
hunchback  ditto  ;  he  be  heir  to  a  cool  million.  Confounded 
shrewd  fellow!" 

When  Mr.  Flum,  who  was  feeble  with  age,  was  weary 
of  the  discomforts  of  travel,  and  Miss  Mary  was  sated 
with  exhibiting  her  splendid  purchase,  and  the  purchase 
himself  was  sick  to  death  of  being  shown  about  like  a  wild 
beast,  or  unique  bird  in  a  menagerie,  the  party  decided 
to  return  to  Maryland,  and  upon  the  home-farm  spend  the 
autumn,  until  the  time  arrived  at  which  arbitrary  fashion 
would  allow  them  to  take  possession  of  the  city  mansion. 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  239 


CHAPTER    XLYII. 

DISCOVERY. 

"  But  if  no  radiant  star  of  love, 

Oh,  Hymen  !  smile  upon  thy  rite, 
Thy  chain  a  wretched  weight  shall  prove, 
Thy  lamp  a  sad,  sepulchral  light." 

"  It  gives  me  wonder  great  as  my  content  to  see  you 
here  before  me,"  quoted  Professor  Waverly,  as  he  went 
forth  to  view  the  broad  lands  that  he  was  soon  to  call  his 
own.  And  only  now  he  began  to  realize  the  good  fortune 
that  was  his,  now  that  he  could  make  an  inventory  of 
Mary's  property.  He  took  long  rides  every  day  about  her 
estates,  gloating  with  ardent  gaze  upon  his  real  bride, — 
the  long  series  of  acres,  the  interminable  timber-lands,  the 
splendid  orchards,  the  inexhaustible  quarries, — all  of  which 
he  was  to  receive  in  exchange  for  a  gold  ring,  for  that  was 
all  he  had  to  give  ;  he  had  not  even  a  heart  to  call  his  own, 
so  totally  destitute  was  Professor  Waverly.  He  had  some 
taste,  however,  and  to  amuse  himself  and  drive  away  other 
thoughts,  he  planned  improvements.  He  would  clear  the 
forest  from  the  front  of  that  cascade  yonder,  and  bare  its 
picturesque  beauty  to  the  carriage-drive,  that  wound  its 
serpentine  course  to  the  mansion.  He  would  clear  an 
avenue  to  the  top  of  that  high  hill,  whose  summit  affords 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  surrounding  landscape.  He  would 
build  an  observatory  there,  and  furnish  it  with  glasses  of 
the  finest  sweep.  He  would  invite  the  scientific  from  all 
parts  uf  the  nation,  and  with  them  feast  upon  the  stars. 


240  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Then,  as  a  latent  sigh  would  half  escape,  he  would  check 
it  and  exclaim,  "Pooh!  pooh!  nonseuse  !  who  would  ex- 
change all  this  for  love  ?  Beardless  boys  and  boarding- 
school  misses,  not  sensible  men."  Then  he  would  continue 
to  plan  :  "  I  will  have  that  ugly  gully  filled  up  and  planted 
with  trees,  rare  and  beautiful ;  that  meadow,  yonder, 
converted  into  a  lake,  and  filled  with  fish ;  those  wild 
flowers,  that  '  blush  unseen  and  waste  their  sweetness  on 
the  desert  air,'  transplated  into  my  garden, — and  oh,  that 
garden  !  it  shall  be  a  miracle  of  beauty  !  My  conserva- 
tories, my  graperies,  my  whole  establishment,  shall  excel 
anything  of  the  kind  in  Maryland.  I'll  teach  these  people 
what  taste  and  refinement  mean!" 

Poor  Mary  was  never  thought  of  in  all  this  splendid 
scheming,  only  as  a  necessary  incumbrance, — an  unsightly, 
but  indispensable  piece  of  ore  that  contained  the  needful 
metal.  And  the  piece  of  ore, — what  was  it  thinking  of? 
Nothing  of  more  importance  or  greater  moment  than  its 
twelve  dozen  night-caps!  and,  if  the  figure  may  be  ex- 
cused, roaming  in  imagination  among  the  balls,  and  din- 
ners, and  masked  surprises,  and  all  the  fashionable  happi- 
ness in  store  for  ore.  From  the  time  a  woman  is  engaged 
to  be  married  until  the  joyful  consummation,  I  wonder  how 
many  millions  of  times  she,  in  imagination,  luxuriates  in 
the  honey  of  that  blissful  moon  ?  It  was  no\V  only  Sep- 
tember, and  Miss  Flum  was  not  to  be  married  until  De- 
cember, and  yet  the  house  was  crowded  with  mantua- 
makers,  embroiderers,  and  trimmers  of  paraphernalia. 
Preparations  of  every  kind  were  progressing  on  the 
grandest  scale.  Everything,  even  the  shoes  and  garters, 
were  ordered  by  the  twelve  dozen.  Daily  consultations  as 
to  patterns  and  material  occupied  Miss  Mary,  and  fully  en- 
grossed her  little  mind  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else. 
And  thus  we  sec   how  the   parties  amused  themselves; 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  241 

neither  ever  thought  of  the  happiness  of  the  other;  but 
only  self!  self! 

After  Professor  Waverly  had  explored  every  nook  and 
cranny  of  the  Flum  estate,  he  made  sundry  dives  into  the 
surrounding  country,  and,  although  he  tried  to  cheat  him- 
self into  the  belief  that  he  was  supremely  happy,  his  very 
restlessness  showed  that  he  lied  to  himself,  and  that  he 
was  as  far  from  being  happy  as  he  was  from  being  honor- 
able. In  one  of  his  solitary  excursions  about  the  neigh- 
borhood, the  professor  happened  to  come  in  contact  with 
the  ruin  of  a  log  cabin.  The  hut  was  not  entirely  pros- 
trate, but  leaned  on  one  side,  and  the  chimney  lay  at  the 
end,  a  heap  of  unsightly  rubbish — unsightly,  only  that  sym- 
pathizing nature  came  to  the  rescue  and  covered  the  de- 
graded architecture  with  the  loveliest  mantle  of  variegated 
hues.  The  green  of  summer  was  mixed  with  the  scarlet 
berries  of  autumn,  and  the  rich  autumnal  bloom  of  flowers 
crowned  the  whole.  A  creeping  monthly  rose  shed  its 
fragrance  in  the  air,  and  hung  in  graceful  festoons  from 
and  around  the  windows.  The  ivy,  with  its  shining 
green,  silently  crept  and  lay  along  the  door-sill  and  step, 
as  if  to  interdict  intrusion  into  this  temple  of  nature.  Fox- 
glove and  sweetbrier  contended  for  the  privilege  of  most 
adorning  the  roof.  Near  by,  a  babbling  run  bespoke  the 
presence  of  a  spring ;  the  visitor  advanced  to  taste  its 
water  ;  the  bottom  was  paved  with  beautiful  shells.  A 
trellis-work  over  the  spring  supported  vines  laden  with  de- 
licious grapes, — not  wild  grapes,  but  the  best  of  cultivated 
fruit.  Behind  the  ruin  was  a  bee-hive.  As  the  stranger 
came  near,  the  little  busybodies  commenced  a  flirtation 
with  him,  simply  for  the  sake  of  finding  out  his  business. 
They  touched  his  nose,  and  peered  into  his  eyes,  and  did 
everything  but  ask  for  what  they  most  wished  to  know. 
In  the  midst  of  the  garden  stood  the  sun-dial,  an  article 

21 


242  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

of  most  peculiar  make, — ingenious  and  yet  simple.  The 
learned  man  was  sadly  puzzled  to  imagine  who  could 
have  inhabited  this  secluded  spot,  lost  in  the  forest,  and 
only  found  by  the  huntsman  or  the  chance  excursionist 
like  himself.  It  was  evident  to  his  cultivated  eye  that 
science  and  taste  had  some  time  found  a  lodgment  here. 
"  That  sun-dial,"  said  he,  musingly,  "could  have  been  made 
by  no  one  but  an  astronomer.  This  shell-paved  spring 
was  the  work  of  childhood,  and  those  bird-boxes  were 
placed  here  at  the  suggestion  of  female  love  for  the  sweet 
music  of  nature."  The  professor  was  inspired.  He  drew 
forth  materials,  and  proceeded  to  sketch.  The  ruin  and 
its  surroundings  were  transferred  as  if  by  magic  to  the 
sheet  of  the  artistic  observer.  He  hastened  home,  and, 
summoning  Miss  Mary  to  the  parlor,  proceeded  to  exhibit 
the  drawing,  eagerly  inquiring  about  the  former  occupants 
of  the  place. 

"  Dear  Mary,"  said  he,  "  do  you  know  of  any  place  in  the 
neighborhood  which  this  drawing  represents?" 

Even  the  feeble  perceptions  of  Miss  Mary  acknowledged 
the  faithfulness  of  the  picture,  and  she  screamed  out,  "  Oh, 
dear  me!  }''ou  have  made  the  Douglas  Ruin  complete!" 

Waverly  started  as  if  a  serpent  had  stung  him. 

"The  what?"  he  exclaimed;  entirely  thrown  off  his 
guard  by  the  rush  of  feeling  he  experienced. 

11  Why,  we  call  that  place  the  Douglas  Ruin,  because 
people  of  that  name  lived  there  last." 

"And  who  were  they,  and  where  did  they  come  from, 
and  where  did  they  go  to,  and  where  are  they  now?" 
The  proud  man  of  science  and  refinement  rushed  question 
after  question  with  the  volubility  of  any  uncultivated  plow- 
man ;  such  was  his  excitement  for  the  moment. 

11  Why,  lovcy,"  said  Miss  Mary,  "  1  never  saw  you  look 
bo  animated  in  my  life;  and  it  makes  you  look  so  hand- 
some.    Do  look  that  way  when  we  are  stauding  up  to  be 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  243 

married:  it  will  vex  Emily  Grandairs  so  much,  the  envious 
thing ;  she  is  telling  it  all  about  that  she  does  not  believe 
you  love  me  at  all." 

The  groom  elect  patted  the  mental  infant  upon  the 
cheek,  much  as  one  would  a  poodle  dog,  and  smilingly 
said,  "Go  on,  dear  Mary,  with  your  narrative  of  this 
family,  and  never  mind  what  Emily  Grandairs  or  any- 
body else  says.  I  really  am  anxious  to  know  more  about 
the  occupants  of  this  picturesque  little  Ruin." 

"Well,"  she  said,  "I  will  tell  you  all  I  know  about 
them  after  dinner, — now  it  is  time  to  dress.  And  just  look 
at  this  flower  that  I  have  embroidered  on  my  night-cap, — 
is  it  not  beautiful  ?" 

The  learned  man,  without  looking  at  the  cap,  pronounced 
it  beautiful,  and  the  enraptured  simpleton  hobbled  up-stairs 
to  try  it  on  and  show  the  effect  to  her  women  in  waiting. 


CHAPTER    XLYIII. 

NEWS. 

"  Who,  that  hath  been, 

Could  bear  to  be  no  more  ? 
Yet  who  would  tread  again  the  scene 
He  trod  through  life  before?" 

Dinner  being  over,  the  professor  impatiently  reminded 
Miss  Mary  of  her  promise  to  give  him  an  account  of  the 
Douglases,  the  fairy-like  residence  of  whom  he  had  so  unex- 
pectedly found. 

"Well,  I  declare,"  said  she,  "  it  is  so  strange  that  you 
should  take  such  an  interest  in  those  poor,  vulgar  people. 
I  reallv  can't  understand  it!" 


244  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"Not  vulgar,  Mary,  however  poor  they  might  have 
been.  Poor  people  are  not  necessarily  vulgar  people  ; 
these  had  science  and  taste  among  them,  the  unmistakable 
signs  of  which  still  remain  around  their  former  dwelling ; 
and  science  and  taste  are  not  vulgarities,"  said  the  pro- 
fessor, gravely. 

"  Oh,  no  ;  I  know  that  science  and  taste  are  very  grand 
things,  and  quite  fit  for  society ;  but,  then,  I  never  knew 
that  people  who  had  science  and  taste  lived  in  mean  houses, 
or  were  poor.  But,  I  was  going  to  tell  you,  all  I  know  of 
those  people  I  learned  at  school ;  how  else  should  I  know 
people  who  are  not  in  society  ?  Their  only  child,  Mat, 
went  to  the  district  school  when  I  went,  only  she  went  in 
real  earnest  and  I  went  in  fun,  just  because  I  wanted  to 
go.  Well,  this  Douglas  girl  was  a  strange  kind  of  person, 
and  appeared  as  if  she  did  not  want  to  associate  with  the 
other  girls ;  she  was  always  reading,  and  dear  old  Snipe, 
our  teacher,  said  she  was  putting  on  airs,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  bring  her  down  a  peg.  He  often  remarked  to 
me,  'Miss  Mary,  the  aristocratic  bearing  of  that  girl  would 
just  suit  you,  but  with  her  it  is  perfectly  ridiculous."' 

"  But  some  persons  do  not  require  the  adventitious  cir- 
cumstances of  wealth  to  make  them  elegant,  or,  as  you 
term  it,  aristocratic.  Such  are  the  aristocracy  patented  by 
nature,  and  you  can  never  bring  them  a  peg  lower,  batter 
them  as  you  may,"  said  Waverly. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  about  such  things,  only  I  know 
this  girl  was  a  most  presuming  thing,  and  had  the  assur- 
ance to  drink  before  me  one  day  at  school,  and  she  was 
sharply  reproved  by  the  teacher,  when  she  set  up  such  a 
howl  that  he  drove  her  from  the  house.  The  next  morn- 
ing, to  show  her  independence,  she  returned  to  school  too 
late,  and  when  reprimanded  by  the  teacher,  she  threw  a* 
inkstand  at  his  head  and  then  bounded  out  the  door  like  a 
rabbit.     I  helped  the  children  to  run  after  her  to  bring  her 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  245 

back.  I  did  want  so  badly  to  see  her  whipped,  but  Bill 
Allston,  who,  they  say,  is  so  distinguished  now,  took  her 
part,  and,  in  trying  to  rescue  her  from  punishment,  chased 
her  into  the  milldam.  He  jumped  in  after  her,  however, 
and  prevented  her  from  being  drowned.  I  always  thought 
him  a  fool  for  his  pains,  but  those  Allstons  were  queer 
people,  though  they  were  in  society,  for  they  were  always 
attending  poor  people,  and  their  own  servants.  Mrs.  Allston 
lost  her  life  by  nursing  her  sick  servant.  Matilda  Douglas 
did  not  come  to  school  any  more,  and  we  heard  no  more 
of  them  until  Mrs.  Douglas  died.  Then  we  heard  that  the 
man,  her  husband,  had  lain  out  in  the  snowstorm  all  night, 
and  that  the  poor  woman  was  so  alarmed  about  him  that 
she  died  from  anxiety  during  the  night,  and  when  Mat 
and  her  father  returned  they  found  her  dead." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  dear  Mary,  by  saying  Mat  and  her 
father  ?  Was  the  child  out  all  night,  too  ?"  asked  the  pro- 
fessor. 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  that  is  the  funniest  part  about  it.  She  stayed 
in  the  woods  all  night  with  her  father,  and  it  was  an  awful 
storm  !  She  built  a  fire  in  the  woods  and  kept  her  drunken 
old  father  from  freezing.  She  was,  like  Bill  Allston,  a  fool  for 
her  pains.     She  had  better  let  him  have  died.     I  would." 

"  She  was  a  brave,  good  girl,"  said  the  professor,  with 
energy. 

44  Oh,  you  know  those  common  people  are  so  coarse  they 
can  bear  anything!"  said  the  lady  of  fashion,  scornfully. 
44  I  am  sure  the  very  thoughts  of  it  would  have  killed  me." 

"And  it  was  the  thoughts  of  it  that  kept  her  alive,"  said 
the  professed  lover,  with  involuntary  sarcasm.  "  But 
please  proceed  with  the  story,  for  truth  is  certainly  stranger 
than  fiction." 

'  "  Oh,  I  am  interesting  you,  am  I  not?     But  I  don't 
know  much  more  about  them,  only  after  the  woman  died 

21* 


246  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Mrs.  Allston  made  quite  a  protegee  of  Mattie,  and  I  ex- 
pect would  have  brought  her  into  society  if  she  had  not 
died  herself,  and  indeed  I  am  glad  she  did,  for  I  would 
rather  have  died  myself  than  to  have  met  that  charity-girl 
in  society.  Mrs.  Allston  permitted  Mattie's  mother  to  be 
buried  in  the  Allston  family  graveyard,  and  now,  as  just 
serves  her  right,  she  has  to  lie  in  the  grave  by  the  side  of 
that  low  woman.  As  for  me,  I  am  sure  I  should  get  up 
in  my  shroud  and  go  away  from  any  such  companionship." 

"  What  became  of  the  family  after  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Allston  ?"  inquired  Waverly. 

"  Oh,  I  believe  they  moved  to  the  city,  and  Mat  became 
a  teacher,  or  something  of  the  kind  ;  but  after  they  left  the 
log  cabin  no  one  would  live  in  it,  because  the  negroes  said 
it  was  haunted,  and  on  stormy  nights  Mrs.  Douglas  could 
be  seen  running  to  the  woods  and  back.  Negroes,  you 
know,  are  so  superstitious,  and  whites,  of  course,  would 
not  live  in  such  a  place,  and  so  the  house  has  remained 
just  as  the  family  left  it." 

"  Where  on  the  Allston  estate  is  the  family  grave- 
yard ?"  inquired  Waverly. 

"  When  you  visit  the  place,  you  cannot  fail  to  see  the 
graveyard,  for  Bill  has  sent  a  splendid  monument  from 
Italy  and  had  it  placed  upon  his  mother's  grave,  and  it  is 
so  conspicuous  that  it  can  be  seen  from  all  parts  of  the 
plantation.  But  why  do  you  ask  ?  Do  3^011  intend  to  act  the 
part  of  Old  Mortality,  and  tinker  your  neighbors'  graves  ?" 
And  the  silly  girl  giggled  as  though  she  had  said  some- 
thing extremely  witty,  and  made,  as  she  boasted  to  her 
lackeys,  "  a  classical  allusion  that  quite  astonished  the 
professor,  because  he  had  no  idea  she  knew  so  much  !" 

From  that  day  some  strange  fascination  drew  the  pro- 
fessor to  the  Douglas  Ruin  every  day,  and  his  chamber 
was  perfumed  with  (lowers  gathered  from  the  garden  and 
fallen  walls. 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  24 7 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

REFUSAL. 

"  Hypocrisy,  the  only  evil  that  walks 
Invisible  except  to  God  alone." 

As  Mattie,  more  dead  than  alive,  was  toiling  in  her 
school  one  day,  Slytickle  made  his  appearance.  The  sight 
of  the  reptile  gave  the  sick  girl  a  chill, — some  such  sensation 
as  you  might  experience  when,  inadvertently  putting  down 
your  hand,  you  felt  a  snake  under  it,  or,  to  use  a  more 
musical  figure,  some  such  feeling  of  disgust  as  Marguerite 
expresses  when  she  meets  Mephistopheles  at  the  tomb  of 
her  brother. 

He  began,  "  Why,  I  declare,  Miss  Douglas,  you  are 
buried  alive  in  this  place  !  It  is  a  shame  to  keep  you  here. 
Besides,  you  can  never  get  up  a  school  in  this  horrid 
neighborhood,  unless,  indeed,  you  can  educate  grindstones 
and  brickbats  !" 

11 1  am  not  in  despair  about  the  school,"  replied  the  pale 
and  nervously  agitated  teacher.  "  Children  are  coming 
from  other  sections  of  the  city,  and  I  am  succeeding  in 
spite  of  all  the  difficulties  which  surround  me.  I  suppose 
a  failure  was  hoped  and  intended  by  those  who  placed  me 
here ;  but  they  will  be  mistaken,  and  find  that  I  am  not 
officially  murdered,  after  all  !" 

Slytickle  was  disconcerted.  He  was  evidently  on  a 
mission ;  but  Mattie's  contentment  and  hopefulness  sur- 
prised his  snakeship  so  much  that  he  did  not  know  how 
to  proceed,  and  had  a  mind  to  glide  back  to  the  Star- 


248  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Chamber  for  further  direction.  It  had  been  surmised  by 
himself  and  co-conspirators  that  the  severe  illness  and 
continued  indisposition  of  the  ill-used  teacher  were  occa- 
sioned by  despair  and  mortification,  and  it  was  deemed 
a  good  opportunity  to  remould  her  while  soft  from  hard 
pommeling.  They  wished  her  services  in  the  school  she 
had  left,  and  at  the  same  time  her  compliance  in  all  their 
schemes.  The  envoy-extraordinary  pondered  for  some 
time,  and  at  last,  because  he  could  think  of  no  better  in- 
troduction to  his  subject,  commenced  : 

"  Well,  Miss  Douglas,  I  am  here  with  a  proposal  for 
you,  and  you  can  accept  or  refuse,  as  you  think  best.  I 
know  you  have  been  treated  shamefully  by  that  rascally 
committee,  but,  then,  that  is  nothing  for  them,  and " 

Mattie  interrupted  the  tirade  of  deceit,  and  asked,  ab- 
ruptly, "  What  is  your  proposal  V 

"  Well,  you  know,  or,  if  you  do  not,  I  can  tell  you,  that 
one  reason  for  getting  you  out  of  the  Factory  was  to  get 
your  situation  for  Miss  Becky  Sharp.  She  and  Fizzle  were 
always  fizzling,  and  she  was  constantly  complaining  to 
Box  of  the  discomforts  of  her  place,  and  asking  a  transfer. 
Box  was  her  tool :  so  to  work  he  went,  and  finished  up  the 
job  beautifully,  as  you  have  reason  to  know.  Sly  Becky 
was  at  work,  too,  and  all  this  was  only  a  blind  to  keep 
Box  in  the  dark  as  to  her  real  intentions ;  for  well  she 
knew  her  influence  over  him  would  cease  as  soon  as  he 
found  she  was  going  to  be  married.  Box,  you  know,  is  a 
married  man  himself!  To  please  Becky,  however,  he  lied, 
and  cheated,  and  manoeuvred,  and  moved  heaven  and 
earth  to  get  your  situation  for  her,  and  then  she  coolly 
told  him  she  did  not  want  the  situation,  she  only  wanted 
to  let  the  public  know  that  she  was  a  greater  favorite  with 
the  committee  than  you  were.  But  in  telling  this  I  don't 
mean  anything." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  249 

"  Oh,  righteous  Heaven  !"  cried  Mattie ;  "  and  so  the 
bread  was  taken  from  my  father's  mouth  to  gratify  the 
wanton  caprice  of  an  unprincipled  wretch  !  How  can  the 
arm  of  God  suffer  such  wrongs  to  go  unavenged?" 

Slytickle  continued,  "  Miss  Ursa  Minor  has  all  the  time 
confidently  expected  promotion,  and  wonders  why  her 
honors  are  delayed.  Her  reverend  father  has  electioneered 
vigorously  all  around  the  town  and  got  up  quite  a  religious 
excitement  on  the  subject;  he  is  looking  for  the  manna 
and  quails  every  moment,  and  wonders  why  the  Lord 
does  not  send  the  pillar  of  fire  at  his  request,"  laughing  a 
satanic  grin.  "And  now  the  case  comes  back  to  you:  if 
you  will  promise  obedience  to  the  committee  and  myself, 
your  official  superior,  you  can  again  occupy  the  position, 
and  my  advice  to  you  is  that  you  accept  the  offer." 

Said  Mattie,  "Mr.  Slytickle,  by  all  means  let  Miss  Ursa 
Minor  have  the  situation.  I  would  not  accept  it  again  for 
double  the  remuneration.  Money  would  be  no  compensa- 
tion to  me  for  dishonorable  compliance  with  that  which 
my  judgment  disavows.  I  will  never  barter  my  inde- 
pendence of  thought  and  action  for  pecuniary  gain." 

11  Well,  now,  indeed,  Miss  Douglas,  I  did  not  think  you 
would  treat  me  so,  who  am  your  friend.  I  want  you  in 
the  school,  indeed  I  do,  for  the  school  wants  workers 
in  it." 

"  I  understand,"  said  Mattie  ;  "you  want  me  to  do  the 
work  that  will  sustain  the  reputation  of  the  school,  and  at 
the  same  time  be  a  tool  for  the  designing.  Never !  This 
is  my  answer.     I  most  respectfully  decline  your  offer." 

"  Perhaps  when  your  health  improves  you  will  think 
differently ;  and  I  hope  you  will ;  I  shall  give  you  time  for 
reflection." 

Mattie,  in  deep  dejection,  replied,  "  I  am  afraid  my 
health  will  never  be  restored;  but  were  it  not  for  my  father 


250  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

I  would  hail  death  as  a  benefactor,  and  gladly  lay  in  the 
peaceful  grave  my  troubled  life." 

"You  are  young  to  be  tired  of  life,"  he  said. 

"Life,"  she  replied,  "is  not  measured  by  years,  but,  as 
one  has  remarked,  by  heart-throbs  of  anguish  ;  and  in  that 
sense  mine  has  already  been  a  long  one." 

Under  the  influence  of  this  feeling  of  despondency, 
Mattie  wrote  to  the  gentleman  at  whose  solicitation  she 
had  commenced  the  study  of  Latin,  declining  his  offer  of 
a  new  enterprise  on  the  score  of  ill  health. 


CHAPTER    L. 

PAY-DAY. 

"  The  plague  of  gold  strikes  far  and  near, 

And  deep  and  strong  it  enters; 
Our  thoughts  grow  blank,  our  words  grow  strong, 

We  cheer  the  pale  gold-diggers. 
Each  soul  is  worth  so  much  on  'change, 

And  marked,  like  sheep,  with  figures." 

Benevolent  reader,  did  you  ever  enter  a  soup  estab- 
lishment ?  I  mean  a  place  where  soup  is  provided  for 
the  poor, — soup  made  from  old  bones,  rank  and  rusty; 
soup  filled  with  stale  vegetables,  the  offal  of  the  market  ; 
soup  thickened  with  musty  meal  which  the  rats  have  refused. 
Oh,  the  horrid  mess !  And  yet  miserable  creatures  come 
from  all  parts  of  the  city  to  get  a  drop  of  the  wretched, 
greasy  mash,  because  they  get  it  for  nothing.  Why,  it  is 
worth  nothing,  and  it  cost  nothing  to  make  it;  everything 
of  which  it  is  made  was  furnished  for  nothing,  because 
everything  was  good  for  nothing.      And,  unfortunately, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  251 

that  is  the  case  with  most  things  that  come  by  charity. 
If  the  donation  was  worth  something  in  the  hands  of  the 
donor,  it  is  worth  nothing  after  leaving  them.  A  million 
of  dollars  is  a  good  sum,  and  would  have  been  worth  it- 
self had  it  been  placed  at  interest  for  the  poor  ;  but  buried 
under  a  pile  of  marble,  designated  "A  Musical  Institute 
for  Paupers,"  it  is  about  as  fantastically  hid  as  was  the 
monkey  in  the  lady's  bandbox,  and  as  useless  for  substan- 
tial good  as  would  be  a  spoonful  of  dessert  to  one  who  had 
not  had  a  mouthful  of  dinner.  No  doubt,  sinecure  office- 
holders are  benefited  by  this  munificent  donation,  and 
those  are  about  all.  How  much  more  wise  and  practical 
was  the  Frenchman,  Girard,  than  this  ever  so  shrewd 
American,  who  knew  passing  well  how  to  make  money, 
but  not  how  to  spend  it  to  the  best  advantage  of  the  suf- 
fering poor  !  Like  the  Musical  Institute,  however,  we 
have  gone  to  dessert  before  finishing  the  first  dinner- 
course,  so  we  reluctantly  return  to  our  horrid  soup.  The 
filthy  rubbish  !  and  to  think  that  beings  wearing  the  form 
divine  will  come  aud  touch  and  taste  the  greasy  pollution, 
only  to  protract  a  little  longer  a  useless  life  !  Better  to  starve 
heroically  than  accept  life  on  such  degrading  terms.  Why 
not  yield  it  up  at  once,  rather  than,  by  debasing  servility, 
arrest  the  fleeting  breath  and  stick  it  a  little  longer  to  the 
starving  ribs  ?  If  a  poor  mendicant  asks  a  potato  more 
than  falls  to  his  share  of  slop,  he  is  ordered  rudely  from 
the  place  by  the  man  who  receives  a  handsome  salary  for 
doling  out  the  trash  and  who  thus  feasts  upon  starvation. 
Look  at  that  poor  infant  in  the  arms  of  a  sick  mother, 
scarcely  able  to  sustain  even  its  feather  weight, — the 
mother  sick,  the  infant  starved;  both  sick,  both  dying 
with  hunger.  See,  as  she  puts  the  filthy  liquid  to  the 
pure  lips  of  the  infant,  how  it  turns  away  its  head,  can- 
not take  it,  though  perishing  for  food  !     The  mother  asks 


252  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

a  piece  of  meat  for  the  babe  to  suck,  saying,  as  she  lays 
her  hands  upon  her  empty  breast,  "  I've  nothing  for  it 
here."  The  person  in  charge  commands  the  pleading 
mother  to  leave  the  place:  "she  turns  his  stomach,"  he 
says,  "  by  such  indelicate  allusions  ;  he  will  have  no  ap- 
petite for  his  pudding  or  his  poultry  at  dinner."  There 
comes  another  pale,  emaciated  creature ;  she  has  just 
arisen  from  a  bed  of  sickness,  and,  induced  by  an  alluring 
advertisement,  expects  to  find  something  that  shall  enrich 
her  wasted  blood  and  send  a  thrill  of  activity  to  the  feeble 
beating  of  her  fainting  heart — and  lo !  this  cholera  rub- 
bish, fit  only  to  give  cramps  and  indigestion.  She  tastes, 
and  turns  away,  and  staggers  out  again  to  eat  and  drink  the 
air.  Now,  after  visiting  the  soup  establishment,  come  with 
me  to  the  office  where  teachers  receive  their  little  pittance 
of  salary, — where  they,  too,  receive  their  drop  of  soup  ! 

O  man,  don't  stand  there  in  your  health  and  strength 
and  manly  power,  and  accept  that  little  mite  doled  out 
by  the  hand  of  official  insolence,  but  go  forth  and  wrestle 
with  life  like  a  hero,  take  fortune  by  the  beard,  pluck  out 
his  teeth,  and  make  of  yourself  what  you  please !  See 
that  girl  yonder,  with  one  eye  and  a  shabby  black  dress ; 
she  is  a  sheep  with  small  price  marked  upon  her  back. 
The  poor  girl  feels  lonely  in  all  that  crowd,  and,  approach- 
ing one  standing  near,  makes  a  remark  and  gives  a  little 
timid  laugh.  Now,  the  Rev.  McGilhooter  is  the  man  who 
doles  out  the  soup  in  this  instance ;  in  other  words,  he 
fills  the  checks,  and  is  ever  so  swollen  by  reason  of  his 
petty  office,  and  exclaims,  "  No  laughing  here !  I  want 
no  laughing  unless  I  do  it  myself!"  And  then  the  cheap 
sheep  shrinks  away  into  her  corner  and  into  her  habitual 
silence. 

Another  girl,  with  two  eyes, — two  bold  black  eyes, — her 
person  covered  with  brass  jewelry,  laughs  as  loud  as  she 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  253 

pleases;  much  louder  than  the  first,  and  she  is  not  re- 
proved. Then  the  girl  with  one  eye  feels  that  it  is  be- 
cause she  has  but  one  eye  that  she  must  not  laugh,  else 
why  was  the  girl  with  two  eyes  and  brass  jewelry  per- 
mitted to  laugh  unreproved  ? 

Here  comes  another  poor  creature,  timid  and  not  pretty 
in  the  vulgar  sense  of  the  word, — that  is,  she  has  not  pink 
cheeks  nor  bright  eyes,  but  she  has  orphan  sisters  and  a 
little  brother  to  provide  for,  so  her  cheek  is  pale  by  reason 
of  the  sorrow  resting  upon  her  heart  and  the  overmuch 
labor  she  has  to  perform.  When  school  duties  are  over 
for  the  day,  this  mother-sister  has  to  clean  the  house  and 
wash  the  clothes,  and  cook  the  food  for  the  little  helpless 
beings  depending  upon  her,  and  thus  work  and  auxiety 
have  made  her  prematurely  old,  and  given  her  a  dejected 
look,  which  is  a  subject  of  brutal  jest  with  the  reverend 
doler  out  of  teachers'  soup. 

As  the  present  subject  is  standing  there  waiting  for  her 
turn,  she  is  turning  over  in  her  mind  the  best  method  of 
dividing  the  drop,  in  order  that  each  may  get  a  share, 
and  that  it  may  reach  round  and  cover  the  most  urgent 
demands  upon  it.  She  becomes  absorbed  in  deep  and  pain- 
ful thought.  Johnny's  little  naked  toes  stare  at  her,  and 
Maggie's  old  broken  hat  waves  before  her  mind's  eye  ; 
she  is  wondering  when  she  will  be  able  to  make  the  chil- 
dren look  more  genteel.  The  grocer's  bill  and  the  baker's 
are  to  be  paid,  the  house  rent  and  the  fuel  must  be  pro- 
vided for,  and  then  there  will  be  nothing  left  with  which 
to  dress  the  children  ;  so  the  careworn  sister  is  trying,  in 
imagination,  to  eke  out  the  pittance  and  make  it  cover 
twice  its  ability.  So  deeply  is  she  absorbed  in  this  finan- 
cial scheme,  the  treasurer  has  to  repeat  her  name  more 
than  once  ere  she  is  aware  that  her  little  check  awaits 
acceptance. 

22 


254  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

When  the  penny-happy  and  pound-sorrowful  woman 
retires,  the  facetious  minister  of  the  gospel  remarks  to  a 
commissioner  standing  near, — 

"  I  wonder  you  elect  such  sour-looking  old  maids.  What 
a  grum,  stupid  creature  that  is !  When  I  get  the  super- 
intendence I  shall  see  that  none  but  pretty  girls  are 
elected."     This  with  a  wink. 

"But,"  said  the  commissioner  addressed,  "that  is  one 
of  our  most  efficient  teachers." 

"  Can't  help  that,  sir;  I  go  for  the  pretty  girls."  Again 
winking  at  Commissioner  A,  when  they  both  laughed  a 
coarse,  vulgar  laugh,  in  which  some  of  the  poor  creatures, 
waiting  for  their  soup,  joined.  Some  people  don't  know 
when  they  are  insulted,  but  there  are  others  who  do,  and 
they  don't  forget  it,  either. 

A  teacher,  with  some  flesh  on  her  bones,  next  advanced 
to  receive  her  drop ;  when  she  retired,  the  Soup-Ladle  re- 
marked, "  That  woman  has  not  work  enough,  or  she  would 
not  acquire  flesh  so  rapidly.  I  advise  the  removal  of  a 
teacher  from  that  school,  and  the  doubling  of  this  one's 
duty,  then  the  salary  thus  saved  can  be  added  to  mine ; 
but  ascertain  first  if  she  has  influential  friends  ;  if  she  has, 
let  her  alone,  or  we  may  burn  our  fingers." 

The  above  was  said  in  an  undertone,  but  not  so  low  as 
to  be  inaudible  to  some  present;  among  the  number,  Mat- 
tie  was  a  compelled  and  silent  spectator  of  this  disgusting 
scene,  until  she  could  bear  it  no  longer.  Weakened  by 
long  indisposition,  she  was  unable  to  endure  what  her 
characteristic  fortitude  might  otherwise  have  sustained. 
Giddy  and  blind,  she  staggered  from  the  office,  staggered 
out  upon  the  pavement,  staggered  against  a  lamp-post, 
and,  laying  hold  of  it  for  support,  vomited  blood.  A  vio- 
lent hemorrhage,  the  result  of  physical  weakness  and 
mental  torture,  rendered   her  unable  to   walk ;   a  person 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  255 

passing  obtained  a  carriage,  into  which  the  sufferer  was 
put,  and  she  reached  home  with  life  flickering  in  the  socket 
like  the  flame  of  an  expiring  lamp. 


CHAPTER    LI. 

A   VISIT. 

"  My  mother,  when  I  learned  that  thou  wast  dead, 
Say,  wast  thou  conscious  of  the  tears  I  shed? 
Hovered  thy  spirit  o'er  thy  sorrowing  son, 
Wretch,  even  then  life's  journey  just  begun  ?" 

August — the  weary  teachers'  Sabbath  of  the  year — 
has  come  at  last !  Mattie  is  extremely  feeble  ;  health  not 
restored,  nor  likely  to  be.  That  typhoid,  as  the  doctor 
calls  it,  has  shaken  her  terribly ;  yet,  he  says,  "  she  ought 
to  have  been  better  long  ago ;  he  can  see  no  reason  why 
her  system  does  not  react  more  readily.  She  is  young 
and  sound,  and  why  she  lingers  on  in  this  half-dying  con- 
dition puzzles  him  to  tell.  But  now  that  she  has  vacation 
she  must  seek  change  of  air  and  change  of  scene,  must  go 
to  the  country,  run  up  to  the  top  of  the  highest  hill  every 
morning  before  sunrise,  must  resolve  to  throw  off  her  ill 
health.  Nothing  like  a  will  in  getting  over  a  spell  of 
sickness,  as  well  as  in  getting  through  every  other  diffi- 
culty." 

Mattie  has  long  desired  to  gaze  again  upon  the  scenes 
of  her  childhood,  to  visit  the  friends  of  her  early  youth, 
to  stand  once  more  by  the  grave  of  her  mother  and  that  of 
her  most  generous  patroness — the  sainted  Mrs.  Allston. 
Strange  that  these  two  beings,  the  two  brightest  stars  in 


256  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Mattie's  little  heaven  of  memory,  should  repose  side  by- 
side,  their  "  sacred  dust"  mingling  into  one.  She  thinks  if 
she  could  but  press  her  aching  heart  to  the  fresh,  green 
mould  that  covers  them  it  would  soothe  its  pain,  and  now 
that  her  health  demands  change  of  air,  she  will  leave  her 
father  for  a  little  to  the  care  of  faithful  Nannie,  and  gratify 
the  long-cherished  wish  of  her  heart.  She  will  take  with 
her  a  handsome  but  chaste  tablet,  and  have  it  placed  upon 
her  mother's  grave.  She  wrote  to  Mrs.  Butterfield,  to 
apprise  her  of  her  coming,  and  engage  board  for  a  few 
weeks.  That  good  soul  was  overjoyed  to  hear  the  news, 
and  all  the  taste  and  ingenuity  of  which  she  was  mistress 
were  put  into  requisition  to  decorate  a  chamber  and  fur- 
nish a  table  worthy  of  the  expected  guest ;  for  Mrs.  But- 
terfield scouted  the  idea  of  compensation.  The  motherly 
heart  of  the  kind  woman  yearned  over  the  "  friendless 
child,"  as  she  still  called  Mattie,  now  broken  in  health 
and  seeking  her  hospitable  roof,  and  she  determined  to 
make  the  visit  as  useful  and  pleasant  to  the  invalid  as 
possible. 

The  kindly  welcome  of  a  true  and  generous  heart,  how 
sweet  it  is  to  the  oppressed  and  grief-sick  soul !  The 
draught  of  pure  sparkling  water  to  the  thirsty  palate  is  as 
grateful,  though  it  issue  from  unhewn  rock,  as  if  flowing 
from  a  marble  fountain  of  richest  workmanship. 

At  the  appointed  time,  Mrs.  Butterfield  was  promptly  at 
the  cars  with  her  carriage  to  meet  the  expected  guest. 
The  kind  woman  was  shocked  at  sight  of  the  object  that 
presented  herself.  The  pale  face,  the  emaciated  limbs,  the 
hollow  eye,  the  languid  step,  all  so  different  from  the 
plump,  bright,  rosy,  energetic  being  who  had  left  the 
neighborhood  but  a  few  years  since. 

"Well,"  she  exclaimed  when  she  had  got  Mattie  fairly 
in  the  carriage,  "  if  this  is  the  effect  of  town  life,  if  this  is 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  25 Y 

the  result  of  an  itching  for  fame  and  money,  I  want  none 
of  it!  I  hate  the  city  I"  she  said,  in  the  heat  of  her  indig- 
nation caused  by  the  sight  of  Mattie's  pitiable  condition. 
"I  would  not  live  in  the  city  to  become  as  rich  as  old 
Flum.  But,  however,  child,  as  I  say,  it's  of  no  use  to  cry 
over  spilt  milk,  but  go  to  wrork  and  mend  the  piggin. 
That's  my  way,  so  I'll  do  my  best  to  pick  you  up  a  little, 
and  you  shall  have  my  pony  all  to  yourself,  and  you  must 
take  a  ride  on  him  every  day,  early  in  the  morning,  and 
against  you  return  I  will  have  a  nice  breakfast  of  dainty 
slap-jacks  and  stewed  chicken  with  fresh  eggs  ready  for 
you;  and  for  supper  you  must  eat  mush  and  new  milk, 
and  on  churning  days  you  must  drink  plenty  of  my  nice 
buttermilk.  Ah  !  that  will  be  the  medicine  for  you  !  My 
buttermilk  has  cured  many  a  case  of  consumption  1  And 
then  you  must  laugh  and  be  merry.  Why,  child,  you  are 
too  young  to  sit  down  and  die  !" 

Mrs.  Butterfield's  regimen  would  have  been  excellent 
for  diseased  lungs;  but  a  sick  heart,  alas!  what  remedies 
can  reach  that  ?  The  heart  must  be  its  own  physician  ;  if 
it  cannot  cure  itself,  none  need  prescribe.  Mattie  grate- 
fully accepted  the  proffered  pony ;  she  was  unable  to  com- 
ply with  the  doctor's  directions  and  run  up  to  the  hills 
and  down  to  the  valleys,  but  she  scoured  the  country  with 
her  pony's  feet.  Every  spot  loved  in  childhood  received  a 
call.  Even  the  little  brooks  that  woke  the  sleepy  forest  with 
their  pleasant  babbling,  upon  whose  margin  she  had  chased 
the  butterfly  and  listened  to  the  singing  bird,  were  not  for- 
gotten, and  especially  was  that  one  remembered  whose  dark 
bosom  had  been  for  a  time  her  grave.  What  thoughts 
stirred  her  heart  as  she  gazed  again  upon  its  troubled 
waters !  The  generous  youth  who  had  rescued  her,  where 
was  he  ?  Long  years  had  passed,  and  she  knew  not  of 
his  fate,  only  the  gossip  of  the  neighborhood  said  he  was 

22* 


258  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

studying  in  foreign  parts, — studying  to  become  "master  of 
the  art  that  was  mistress  of  his  heart,"  as  he  had  expressed 
it  to  her  long  years  before.  Thoughts  of  his  noble  deeds 
and  of  his  noble  mother,  with  all  her  subsequent  life  and 
its  attendant  suffering,  brought  thus  vividly  before  her  by 
association,  stirred  Mattie's  spirit  to  its  very  depth,  and 
her  soul  gushed  forth  in  song.  Not  such,  however,  as 
startled  the  air,  or  woke  the  echo  in  its  hilly  home,  but 
drawing  forth  pencil  and  pocket-portfolio,  she  wrote  the 
poem  which  the  world  has  read  and  will  continue  to  read. 
That  poem  was  the  Rescue. 


CHAPTER    LI  I. 

SURPRISE. 

"  Love,  like  the  wren  upon  the  eagle's  wing, 
Shall  perch  superior  on  ambition's  plume 
And  mock  the  lordly  passion  in  its  flight." 

After  the  discovery  Professor  Waverly  had  made  con- 
cerning the  previous  occupancy  of  the  Fairy  Cot,  as  he 
called  what  had  formerly  been  called  the  old  field-house,  it 
possessed  an  interest  amounting  to  fascination  for  his 
artistic  fancy.  Scarcely  a  day  passed  that  he  did  not  pay 
a  visit  to  the  premises,  drink  water  from  the  shell-paved 
spring,  pluck  flowers  from  the  garden  and  fallen  walls, 
read  the  time  of  day  and  set  his  watch  from  the  unique 
sun-dial  ;  and  then,  throwing  himself  upon  a  verdant 
bank,  lie  for  hours  and  watch  the  little  bees  as  they  flirted 
in  and  out  of  their  richly-furnished  home.  The  spot  had 
a  sacredness  in  his  eyes  which  he  carefully  concealed  from 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  259 

Mary  Flum  ;  and  he  secretly  determined  that  as  soon  as  he 
came  into  possession  of  the  means  he  was  marrying,  to 
purchase,  at  any  price,  the  little  farm,  to  which  the  cabin 
was  an  adjunct,  and  then  to  make  of  the  old  ruin  the  love- 
liest grotto  eyes  had  ever  beheld  or  fancy  pictured.  He 
resolved,  in  spite  of  Mary  Flum, — he  would  not  care  to 
spite  her  after  the  knot  was  tied, — to  call  it  Douglas 
Grotto,  to  have  the  name  emblazoned  on  stone  over  the 
door.  Thither  he  would  transport  his  books,  and  amid 
murmuring  waterfalls  and  sweet  perfume  from  creeping 
vines  and  blooming  flowers,  he  would  indulge  in  feasts  of 
soul  and  feasts  of  sense.  This  grotto  should  be  his  retreat 
when  weary  of  the  world  and  her,  his  books  his  bride,  and 
the  room  in  which  Mattie  slept  ere  she  dreamed  of  him, 
the  bridal  chamber  of  his  heart. 

One  morning  this  pilgrim  to  the  shrine  of  something  he 
had  never  asked  himself  what,  found  the  door  of  the  cabin 
open. 

"Ah  I"  he  exclaimed,  "some  rascally  night-prowler  has 
taken  the  liberty  to  sleep  here ;  but  I'll  rouse  him  from  his 
sylvan  slumbers,  and  kick  him  from  the  door."  He 
approached,  the  vine  that  crept  across  the  stone  sill  lay 
bruised  and  tangled,  evidently  the  foot  of  an  intruder  had 
been  upon  it. 

"The  vandal !"  exclaimed  pilgrim,  replacing  the  bruised 
tendrils, — "  and  I  so  careful  of  it  that  I  would  not  enter 
for  fear  of  soiling  a  leaf." 

For  the  first  time,  although  a  daily  visitor  to  the  spot, 
the  professor  mounted  the  step  and  stood  within  the  cabin 
door. 

"  Is  any  one  here  ?"  he  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 
No  reply,  save  echo.  He  advanced  within  the  room  ;  on 
the  damp  hearth,  as  if  fallen  from  the  mantelpiece,  lay  a 
pocket-portfolio. 


260  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"Ah  I"  he  exclaimed,  "  some  artist  has  been  here,  and, 
after  sketching  the  rare  beauty  of  the  outside,  wished  to 
take  a  survey  of  the  interior,  sauntering  off,  forgetting  his 
portfolio  I'll  look  at  the  drawing,  anyhow,  and  see  if  it 
is  better  than  my  own."  He  opens  the  binding  of  blank 
leaves ;  but  why  does  his  cheek  so  strangely  change  its 
hue  ?  Why  do  his  eyes  start  almost  from  their  sockets  ? 
Is  it  a  picture  he  sees  before  him  ?  It  is  not  a  picture  but 
a  poem  ;  and  well  he  knows  the  writing,  for  he  has  seen 
the  hand  trembling  by  his  side  translating  Latin. 

The  man  was  bewildered,  mystified.  "  She  must  be  in 
the  neighborhood,"  was  his  conclusion,  M  and  yesterday 
was  here,  naturally  enough,  to  see  her  old  home  "  Un- 
consciously he  turned  the  page,  caption  after  caption 
passed  before  his  excited  vision.  The  book  was  filled  with 
poetical  expressions.  Mattie's  genius  had  at  last  de- 
veloped itself.  The  rock  was  smitten  and  the  water 
gushed.  Writing  had  not  made  her  love,  but  love  had 
made  her  write. 

Waverly  turned  the  pages  backward  and  forward,  like 
one  in  profound  meditation,  and  not  knowing  exactly  what 
he  did,  he  read  the  captions  and  then  turned  back  and  read 
them  again.  "My  Mother's  Grave,"  "Home  of  my  Child- 
hood," "  Oh,  that  we  had  never  met !"  "  Grief  that  weeps 
not,"  "  The  Rescue,"  "  Where  shall  we  bury  Love  ?"  This 
heading,  more  than  the  rest,  attracted  his  attention,  and 
he  commenced  reading  the  poem ;  he  had  only  completed 
the  first  line,  which  ran  in  this  wise,  "  In  the  crushed 
heart  make  ye  a  grave,"  when  a  rustle  outside  the  door 
startled  him.  "  She  might  be  coming  !  I  would  not  meet 
her  for  the  world  !"  And,  throwing  down  the  papers,  he 
bounded  from  the  house.  His  horse  was  fastened  outside  ; 
he  mounted,  and,  dashing  the  rowels  deep  into  the  sides 
of  the  animal,  flew  like  lightning  from  the  place.      He 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  201 

peered  furtively  at  every  bush  and  tree  as  he  passed, 
lest  Mattie  might  start  up,  specter-like,  and  impede  his 
progress. 

Why  did  the  man  of  honor  fear  ?  The  word  that  would 
have  been  actionable  in  law  had  never  been  spoken. 

That  day  Mary  Fluni  remarked  that  "  lovey  was  look- 
ing pensive  and  worried  ;  he  must  be  getting  tired  of  the 
dull,  lonesome  life  he  was  leading ;  she  would  invite  the 
society  of  the  neighborhood,  and  give  him  a  dinner."  No 
sooner  said  than  done.  The  housekeeper  was  at  once 
cited  to  appear,  and  a  dinner  for  company  ordered  on 
the  next  day  at  five.  The  housekeeper,  accustomed  to 
Miss  Mary's  whims,  assured  her  everything  should  be 
ready.  A  servant  was  then  dispatched  with  the  invita- 
tions. 

The  next  day  came,  and  with  it  the  dinner.  The  com- 
pany were  delighted,  the  wine  flowed,  the  jest  sparkled ; 
the  professor  was  the  gayest  of  the  gay,  and  did  the  hon- 
ors of  the  house  as  if  he  had  been  accustomed  to  it  all  his 
life.  But  when  the  guests  were  gone,  when  he  had  handed 
the  last  lady  to  her  carriage,  and,  with  merry  laugh  ring- 
ing out  upon  the  cool  night  air,  had  wished  her  pleasant 
dreams  of  those  she  loved  ;  when  he  had  led  Miss  Mary 
to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and  kissed  good-night  upon  her 
alabaster  hand  ;  when  he  had  retired  to  his  own  chamber, 
and  his  head  was  upon  his  pillow,  the  party,  Miss  Mary, 
and  all  else  forgotten,  the  last  thought  that  crossed  his 
brain  ere  he  sank  into  the  oblivion  of  repose  was  the  little 
portfolio  lying  on  the  damp  hearth  in  the  old  cabin.  That 
caption,  "Where  shall  we  bury  Love?"  surmounted  the 
fumes  of  wine,  and  stole  through  his  brain  like  the  odor 
of  flowers  steals  through  a  house.  Just  sinking  into  for- 
getfulness,  he  started  with  the  sigh,  "Yes!  Wrhere  ? 
Ah  1  where  ?" 


262  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

Neither  did  a  night's  repose  banish  the  stinging  thought, 
for  the  first  that  came  to  him  on  waking  was  the  same, — 
"  Where  shall  we  bury  Love  ?  where,  oh,  where  ?"  He 
sat  upon  the  side  of  his  bed,  and,  with  Newton-like  absorp- 
tion, pondered  the  great  problem. 

"  Wonder  if  I  could  get  possession  of  that  portfolio 
again?  I  should  like  so  much  to  read  that  poem,  and,  in- 
deed, all  of  them,  and  then  I  would  return  it.  Wonder  if 
she  came  yesterday  and  took  it  away?  Wonder  where 
she  is  staying  in  the  neighborhood?  I'll  just  ride  over 
before  she  can  possibly  be  about,  and  if  the  papers  are  yet 
there,  I  shall  bring  them  away,  read  them,  and  put  them 
back."  Thus  cogitating,  he  dressed,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  sped  with  all  haste  to  the  cabin.  The  door  was  open 
as  on  the  previous  day,  and  there  lay  the  portfolio  just 
where  he,  nervous  man,  had  thrown  it.  With  a  thrill  of 
joy  he  snatched  it  up,  thrust  it  into  his  breast-pocket,  and 
then  rode  furiously  from  the  place. 

As  it  was  early  in  the  morning,  and  long  until  the  break- 
fast hour  at  home,  the  professor  determined  to  extend  his 
ride  by  taking  a  circuitous  route,  and  thus  to  gain  the 
main  road  at  last,  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  could  enjoy 
new  scenery  and  become  acquainted  with  new  paths.  The 
one  he  had  now  chosen  lay  through  the  woods,  and  the 
leaves  of  the  trees  were  heavily  laden  with  the  dew  of 
autumn,  which  showered  upon  him  as  his  hat  came  in  con- 
tact with  the  overhanging  boughs.  To  avoid  this  incon- 
venience, this  early  explorer  struck  into  an  open  lane 
which  presented  an  avenue  of  escape,  and  this  change  of 
route  brought  him  to  the  Allston  estate,  and  in  full  view 
of  the  towering  shaft  which  Bill  had  sent  from  Italy  to 
honor  his  mother's  grave.     Fit  son  for  such  a  mother. 

Waverly  had  desired  to  examine,  critically,  this  monu- 
ment,    It  was  constantly  talked  of  in  the  neighborhood, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  263 

and  extolled  as  an  effort  of  surpassing  taste.  A  connois- 
seur in  art  as  well  as  literature,  our  learned  man  consid- 
ered himself  umpire  in  both ;  and  now  was  a  favorable 
opportunity,  perhaps,  to  prove  to  all  around  that  he  could 
find  flaws  in  perfection,  and  lay  upon  the  ground  this  tower 
of  boasted  beauty.  He  did  not  stop  to  analyze  his  feelings, 
but  certainly  since  he  had  heard  that  Allston  was  the 
savior  of  Mattie,  and  had  risked  his  life  to  save  hers, 
thus  challenging  her  lasting  gratitude,  he  felt  for  him  some 
strange  and  indefinable  dislike,  and  nothing  could  have 
given  him  more  pleasure  than  to  have  proved  by  all  the 
rules  of  art  this  costly  monument  a  botch! 


CHAPTER    LI  II. 

MATTIE   AMONG    THE   TOMBS. 

"  Love  has  perished  !  list !  how  they  tell, 
Beating  pulse  of  mine,  his  funeral  knell. 
Love  is  dead,  ay,  dead  and  gone ! 

Why  should  I  be  living  on?" 

The  pony  was  promptly  at  the  door  every  morning  by 
sunrise,  according  to  the  directions  of  good  Mrs.  Butter- 
field.  The  gentle  animal  seemed  to  sympathize  with  the 
frail  creature  whose  weight  he  bore,  and  never  would 
budge  a  step  faster  or  slower  than  was  agreeable  to  her 
mood.  When  she  mounted,  he  would  complacently  neigh 
out  his  welcome,  and,  tossing  his  dainty  head,  seem  to 
say,  "Let  me  rouse  you  to  a  little  fun."  But  there  was 
no  fun  in  Mattie.  She  was  a  prey  to  the  deepest  melan- 
choly, and   shunned  society  like  a  fugitive  from  justice, 


264  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

sighing  only  for  the  shelter  of  the  peaceful  grave.  Under 
the  influence  of  such  feelings  she  would  plunge  into  the 
forest  and  spend  whole  days  in  its  peaceful  and  somber 
shade,  or  else  sit  by  the  side  of  her  mother's  grave  and 
that  of  her  generous  patroness.  During  those  lonely  days 
she  did  sometimes  write,  but  never  read ;  no  book  but  the 
book  of  nature  possessed  any  interest  for  her  morbid  mind. 
She  had  absented  herself  from  the  graveyard  while  the 
workmen  had  been  employed  in  placing  the  tablet  upon 
the  grave,  and,  on  this  eventful  morning,  hastened  to  view 
the  completed  work. 

The  most  important" events  of  our  lives  generally  come 
to  us  at  the  most  unexpected  moments,  and  little  did 
Mattie  think,  as  she  quitted  the  hospitable  abode  of  unpre- 
tending generosity  on  that  eventful  morning,  that  ere  she 
again  entered  its  clean  and  kindly  precincts  the  disease 
which  she  thought  incurable  would  be  cured,  the  consump- 
tion that  was  consuming  life  would  be  rendered  innocuous, 
and  consume  no  more.     But  how  ? 

Waverly,  as  we  have  told,  had  come  to  sneer,  if  possi- 
ble, at  the  monument,  or  rather  at  Bill  Allston's  taste  in 
monuments ;  and  thus  Mattie  and  the  man  met  at  the 
tomb.  When  he  entered  the  inclosure,  she  was  standing 
behind  the  noble  shaft,  and  quite  obscured  from  view, 
until  a  near  approach,  by  its  commanding  figure,  conse- 
quently the  parties  were  quite  near  each  other  ere  they 
were  aware  of  the  fact  that  solitude  in  that  sequestered 
spot  was  not  complete.  The  surprise,  of  course,  was 
mutual,  and  was  great.  Mattie  thought  she  saw  an  ap- 
parition. Had  he,  for  whom  she  was  dying,  been  sent  to 
her  like  heavenly  manna  to  Israel  of  old  ?  or,  alas !  had  he 
come,  perhaps,  like  Caesar  to  Brutus  at  Philippi? 

With  breath  suspended,  eves  dilated,  nostrils  expanded, 
lips  apart,  hands  stretched  forth  as  if  to  ward  off  a  blow, 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  265 

she  looked  the  statue  of  surprise,  white  as  the  marble  near 
which  she  stood.  The  man  of  strong  nerve  and  mighty 
self-possession,  learned  in  the  school  of  the  world,  was 
scarcely  less  unnerved  than  the  fragile  girl  before  him, 
— she  whose  life-blood  was  fast  ebbing  forth,  dyeing 
the  arrow  himself  had  aimed.  He  started  back,  exclaim- 
ing, "  Oh,  ah  !  yes,  yes  !  I  might  have  expected  it, — Miss 
Douglas  visiting  her  mother's  grave."  No  sooner  had  the 
tones  of  that  well-remembered  voice,  every  note  of  which 
sounded  like  mutterings  from  a  grave  in  her  heart,  reached 
the  ear  of  the  terrified  girl  than  an  uncontrollable  flood  of 
pent-up  feeling  rushed  upon  her.  She  lived  in  one  moment 
concentrated  months  of  agony.  She  lived  too  fast  to  live 
long ;  her  head  swam,  her  sight  failed,  her  limbs  relaxed, 
she  was  sinking  to  the  earth.  For  one  moment  Mrs.  All- 
ston's  monument  sustained  her ;  the  next  Waverly  had 
sprung  forward,  and  received  in  his  arms  the  insensible 
girl.  He  had  by  this  time  in  some  measure  recovered 
from  his  own  extreme  perturbation,  and  felt  a  strong  de- 
sire to  get  out  of  the  scrape  as  quickly  as  possible ;  so  he 
laid  his  burden  down  upon  the  ground,  her  cheek  resting 
upon  the  slab  just  placed  upon  her  mother's  grave,  and, 
mounting  his  horse,  rode  to  the  nearest  house,  which  hap- 
pened to  be  that  of  the  overseer.  With  the  utmost  com- 
posure, he  informed  the  inmates  that  a  lady  was  sick  in 
the  graveyard,  and  required  instant  attention. 

Upon  receipt  of  this  intelligence,  whites  and  blacks  with 
one  accord  exclaimed,  "  It  is  Miss  Douglas!"  and  bolted 
forth  in  rapid  chase,  each  trying  to  be  first  at  the  spot. 
Mattie's  habit  of  visiting  the  graveyard  was  well  known  ; 
hence  the  surmise. 

Waverly  watched  from  a  distance  until  he  saw  Mattie 
lifted  into  the  arms  of  a  stout  negress,  big  Dinah  carrying 
her  and   little  Dinah  supporting  her  feet;  then,  putting 

23 


266  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

spurs  to  his  horse,  he  was  soon  out  of  sight  and  sound  of 
the  annoying  incident. 

When  Mattie  recovered  consciousness,  she  found  herself 
in  the  house  of  the  overseer  of  the  Allston  property,  his 
wife  and  a  troop  of  blacks  standing  over  her,  each  one 
anxious  to  propose  something  for  her  relief;  and  as  soon 
as  she  opened  her  eyes,  Mrs.  Plowman  ordered  the  room 
to  be  cleared  and  the  utmost  quiet  to  be  observed 
throughout  the  house,  that  the  invalid  might  have  com- 
plete repose. 

Mattie's  first  inquiry  was,  "  How  did  she  come  there  ? 
Did  the  gentleman  whom  she  met  in  the  graveyard 
bring  her  ?" 

"  La,  child,"  replied  Mrs.  Plowman,  "  he  did  not  even 
get  off  his  horse."  The  voluble  woman  then  went  on  to 
detail  how  the  man  on  the  horse  "  had  galloped  up  and  told 
them  that  a  lady  was  sick  in  the  graveyard,  and  how  the 
blacks  had  toted  her  home,  and  how  they  and  herself  had 
.been  bathing  her  face  and  rubbing  her  hands,  and  how 
glad  she  was  to  see  her  come  to  at  last."  At  this  stage 
of  the  narration  a  servant  entered,  and  inquired  what  Miss 
Mattie  would  have  for  breakfast. 

"  Prepare  her  toast  and  tea,  with  fresh  eggs,"  said  Mrs. 
Plowman. 

"No,  I  thank  you,"  spoke  Mattie.  "I  would  rather 
return  to  Mrs.  Butterfield's  at  once :  she  will  be  anxious 
about  me  if  I  do  not  return  at  the  regular  breakfast  time." 

"I  have  sent  to  tell  her  of  the  events  of  the  morning, 
and  the  condition  you  are  in,  and  she  will  be  here  pres- 
ently:  in  the  mean  time  you  must  take  some  nourishment, 
because  you  are  extremely  weak." 

The  thought  uppermost  in  Mattie's  mind  was,  "What 
could  Professor  Waverly  be  doing  in  that  neighborhood? 
and,  most  of  all,  what  could   have   brought  him   to  the 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  2G7 

graveyard  V1  This  perplexing  question  she  pondered  and 
repondered,  without  any  hope  of  a  solution,  because  she 
supposed  that  as  Mrs.  Plowman  had  not  mentioned  his 
name  she  did  not  know  it ;  but  in  this  Mattie  was  mis- 
taken. A  stranger  can  scarcely  come  to,  and  certainly 
not  remain  in,  a  country  neighborhood,  for  any  length 
of  time,  without  having  everything  in  connection  with 
himself  known  and  discussed.  At  last  Mattie  ventured 
the  question,  "  Do  you  know,  ma'am,  who  the  gentleman 
is  that  found  me  fainting  in  the  graveyard,  and  where  he 
is  staying  in  the  neighborhood?"  That  was  enough  ;  the 
question  opened  the  floodgate  of  Mrs.  Plowman's  volu- 
bility, and  a  torrent  was  the  consequence.  She  gave  an 
account  of  Mary  Flum's  matrimonial  engagement  to  the 
professor,  of  his  travels  with  the  family,  of  the  improve- 
ment upon  the  extensive  and  valuable  property  which  he 
designed,  and  of  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  speak, — 
proud  man  ! — and  which  topic  was  the  last  sensation  in 
the  neighborhood.  The  simple-hearted  country-people 
deemed  the  learned  professor  somewhat  of  an  adventurer, 
and  therefore  his  affair  at  Flum's  was  freely  talked  of,  and 
plenty  of  jokes  were  made  about  it,  not  unmixed  with  a 
little  scorn  as  well. 

This  part  of  the  subject  being  disposed  of,  Mrs.  Plow- 
man— as  what  woman  would  not? — launched  into  an  ani- 
mated description  of  the  bridal  paraphernalia,  the  talk  of 
all  the  tea-tables  for  a  score  of  miles  around ;  and  espe- 
cially of  the  twelve  dozen  night-caps,  the  envy  of  all  the 
girls.  Thus  rattled  on  the  well-meaning  woman,  with  the 
best  intention, — that  of  amusing  the  invalid  until  her 
breakfast  should  be  ready  and  her  friend  arrive. 

It  is  said  that  words  are  things;  and  great  things  they 
are,  for  they  rule  the  world ;  but  little  did  the  gossiper 
think  of  the  importance  of  hers  on  this  occasion,  for  long 


268  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

ere  the  gossip  was  finished  the  scales  had  fallen  from  the 
eyes  of  the  hitherto  infatuated  girl. 

As  the  reader  must  have  seen  ere  this,  Mattie  was  a 
person  of  strong  sense  and  firm  will ;  only  this  sensation 
— which  we  have  no  means  of  designating  but  by  the  term 
love, — perfectly  indefinable,  but  none  the  less  fatal,  as  we 
have  before  remarked,  and  which  fact  most  of  us  know  to 
our  cost — had  for  a  time  completely  bewildered  and  led 
captive  her  better  judgment. 

Pressing  her  hands  upon  her  eyes,  with  her  head  buried 
among  the  pillows  to  conceal  her  emotion,  Mattie  lay  like 
one  asleep,  but  listening  with  an  attention  that  was  fear- 
fully intense.  She  suppressed  her  breathing,  lest  a  word 
might  be  lost.  The  narrator  went  on  with  the  story,  gayly, 
carelessly,  as  a  child  might  play  with  a  loaded  six-shooter; 
but  in  those  bullet-words  was  life,  and  not  death  ;  they 
were  like  the  message  of  a  compassionate  judge  to  a  heart- 
broken prisoner,  and  long  ere  the  story  was  completed,  as 
a  bird  escapes  from  its  prison-cage,  Mattie's  spirit  had 
passed  from  death  unto  life. 

"  I  am  free  !  I  am  free  !"  she  mentally  shouted.  "  0 
God,  I  thank  Thee,  I  am  free  at  last ;  my  bonds  part 
asunder  like  flax  in  the  flame  !  Now  I  know  why  I  was 
despised :  my  crime  was  poverty  !  Poor,  foolish  dupe  that 
I  was,  never  to  have  thought  of  that!  In  my  infatuation, 
I  supposed  I  had  been  guilty  of  something  too  inelegant 
or  too  harsh  for  his  refined  nature,  or  that  I  did  not 
measure  up  to  his  supreme  standard  of  female  excellence  ; 
and  now,  behold,  he  is  marrying  an  acknowledged  idiot, 
ugly  and  deformed.  Oh,  what  a  dupe  I  have  been  to  my 
own  sick  fancy!  what  an  insane  estimate  I  have  put  upon 
that  man's  character!  but  from  this  moment  and  forever 
1  am  free  from  the  delusion  of  love!" 

So  profound  was  Mattie's  reverie,  so  completely  was 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  269 

she  lost  in  thought,  that  Mrs.  Plowman  had  to  repeat  the 
information  several  times  that  breakfast  was  waiting  for 
her. 

"  I  have  no  need  of  breakfast,?'  she  exclaimed,  rising 
from  the  bed ;  "  I  feel  as  strong  and  well  as  if  I  had  just 
eaten  an  ox."     And  she  laughed  a  wild  hysteric  laugh. 

Mrs.  Plowman  looked  sharply  at  her,  and  shook  her 
head.  "  I  wish,"  she  said  to  the  servant  in  waiting,  "that 
Mrs.  Butterfield  would  come.  I  think  we  ought  to  send 
for  a  doctor  right  away." 

Just  then  the  wished-for  visitor  was  seen  advancing  up 
the  lane.  Mrs.  Plowman  ran  out  to  meet  her,  and,  with 
mysterious  look  and  gesture,  whispered,  "  I  think  there 
is  something  wrong  in  Miss  Douglas's  mind.  I  tell  you 
it  is  more  the  mind  than  the  body  that  is  sick  in  that 
girl's  case,"  said  the  shrewd  woman;  "and  if  I  were  you 
I  would  send  for  Dr.  Bramble  immediately,  and  get  at 
the  facts." 

"Pooh!  pooh!  nonsense!"  indignantly  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Butterfield;  "no  such  thing!  The  poor  child  has  been 
broken  down  with  hard  work,  nursing  a  sick  father  and 
teaching  a  large  school ;  the  wonder  is  that  she  did  not 
die  long  ago.  And  then  the  putting  up  of  that  grave- 
stone brought  things  all  back  fresh  to  her  memory  and 
quite  upset  her." 

"Well,  I  am  greatly  mistaken,"  replied  the  incredulous 
Plowman,  "  if  there  is  not  something  on  that  girl's  mind 
that  upsets  her  more  than  gravestones,  or  nursing,  or 
teaching ;  and  I'll  bet  my  year's  spinning  that  she  ends  her 
days  in  a  madhouse." 

"  I  shall  not  let  her  go  to  the  graveyard  any  more," 
said  the  kindest  of  Butterfields,  "and  I  shall  churn  every 
day  and  make  her  drink  the  buttermilk  :  she  only  stands  in 
need  of  plenty  of  buttermilk  I" 

23* 


270  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    LIY. 

RECOVERY. 

"Brave  resolution,  I  am  proud  to  see 
So  sweet  a  graft  upon  a  wormwood  tree, 
Whose  juice  is  gall,  but  yet  the  fruit 
Most  rare." 

Mattie's  affair  in  the  graveyard  created  some  gossip  in 
the  neighborhood,  as  of  course  it  would.  In  the  country, 
where  incidents  are  scarce,  a  slight  circumstance  assumes 
an  air  of  importance,  after  passing  through  the  multitudi- 
nous versions  which  it  receives  in  its  progress  from  mouth 
to  mouth.  The  servants  on  the  Allston  plantation  soon 
carried  the  news  to  those  on  the  Flum  plantation,  and 
Miss  Mary's  maid,  getting  hold  of  the  story,  as  it  related 
to  the  professor,  of  course  lost  no  time  in  communicating 
it  to  her  mistress.  The  amiable  Miss  Mary  was  scorn- 
fully indignant  that  her  affianced  should  trouble  himself 
about  such  a  girl  as  Matilda  Douglas.  "  Why  not  let  her 
lie  in  the  graveyard  and  die  ?  If  she  died  there,  they 
could  easily  dig  a  hole  and  put  her  in  and  save  trouble. 
Poor  people  had  no  right  to  expect  any  better  treatment 
than  was  given  to  dogs,"  said  the  petted  child  of  fortune. 
Summoning  the  professor,  she  interrogated  him  closely  as 
to  his  participation  in  the  affair,  now  the  gossip  of  the 
neighborhood.  He  replied,  very  coolly,  that  "  he  went 
to  the  Allston  family  graveyard,  as  he  had  long  intended 
to  do,  to  examine  the  much-talked-of  monument  which 
young  Allstun  had  placed  over  his  mother,  and  there  he 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  2U* 

saw  a  girl  who  seemed  to  be  exhausted  and  in  the  act  of 
fainting ;  he  hastened  to  give  the  alarm,  and  the  people 
whom  he  notified  of  the  fact  all  with  one  accord  exclaimed, 
1  It  is  Miss  Douglas  V  and  that  was  all  he  knew  about  the 
matter." 

"Faint,  indeed!  the  insolent  upstart!  Those  poor, 
common  people  never  faint;  it  is  only  ladies  that  faint," 
said  Miss  Mary.  "  She  pretended  to  faint  for  a  decoy  ! 
She  thought  you  wrould  support  her  in  your  arms,  because 
she  saw  you  were  a  gentleman,  and  perhaps  you  would 
stay  all  day  with  her  and  fall  in  love  with  her,  as  they  do 
in  novels  at  such  times.  It  was  all  a  scene  like  those  they 
act  in  the  theatres,  and  I  suppose  she  thought  herself  quite 
a  heroine.  Really,  the  assurance  of  the  common  people  in 
this  country  is  beyond  endurance.  I  wish,  lovey,  you 
would  go  to  Congress  and  make  a  law  to  put  down  the 
common  people,  for  really  they  will  take  the  country  one 
of  these  days  if  something  is  not  done  to  suppress  them." 

The  professor  smiled,  and  replied,  "  Certainly,  dear  Mary, 
your  wish  shall  be  my  law  in  all  things."  As  soon,  how- 
ever, as  the  compliant  man  could  get  away  from  this  dis- 
agreeable interview,  he  went  up  to  his  chamber  and  locked 
in  his  trunk  the  little  portfolio,  which  yet  occupied  the 
pocket  of  his  coat  and  pressed  against  his  heart.  As  he 
hid  the  unbound  sheets  among  his  clothes,  he  muttered  to 
himself,  "  That  girl  has  so  little  sense  or  delicacy  or  dis- 
cretion, she  would  as  soon  search  my  effects  as  not,  if  she 
took  it  into  her  silly  head." 

All  Mattie's  plans  for  exercise  were  changed  after  the 
scene  in  the  graveyard.  She  determined  not  to  ride  or 
walk  in  any  direction  where  there  was  a  probability  of 
meeting  "Waverly.  "I  am  ashamed  of  myself,"  she  said 
to  herself,  "  thus  to  have  permitted  a  jaundiced  fancy  to 
absorb  my  life,  to  drink  up  my  blood  like  a  sirocco.     I 


272  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

will  crush  from  my  heart  all  remembrance  of  this  delusion 
and  its  object.  My  better  judgment  tells  me  he  is  un- 
worthy of  the  pure, -unadulterated  love  of  an  honest 
heart.  For  his  sake  I  would  have  toiled  in  poverty  all 
my  life ;  there  is  nothing  compatible  with  honor  that  I 
would  not  have  braved  to  make  him  happy ;  and,  behold, 
I  have  been  wasting  my  heart's  wealth  of  love  upon  a 
mercenary  wretch  who  has  sold  himself  for  gold.  Had 
his  heart  refused  to  love  me  because  its  greatness  required 
something  superior  to  my  humble  self,  something  more  in- 
trinsically worthy  of  his  exalted  standard  of  taste  and  re- 
finement than  I  dare  believe  myself  to  be,  then  I  could 
have  respected  him  yet  the  more,  would  have  bowed  in 
reverence  to  the  greatness  I  could  not  emulate.  But  this — 
it  surpasses  belief!" 

She  said  to  Mrs.  Butterfield,  "I  shall  not  ride  out  for 
exercise  as  usual,  but  shall  walk  in  the  garden  until  I  am 
tired,  and  then  rest  under  the  trees.  Perhaps  walking 
and  fresh  air  will  enable  me  to  sleep ;  it  is  for  want  of 
sleep  that  I  am  wasting  away.  All  the  night  long  I  lie 
tossing  from  side  to  side,  eyes  wide  open,  and  turning  ever 
to  morning's  door,  wishing,  hoping,  praying  for  the  first 
faint  tint  of  lovely  day  to  come  and  release  me  from  my 
prison.     If  I  could  but  sleep,  I  would  get  well  at  once." 

"  You  don't  drink  buttermilk  enough,"  replied  Mrs.  But- 
terfield; "but  I  am  delighted  to  hear  that  you  are  not 
going  out  of  sight  again,  for  I  should  be  uneasy  about  you 
and  think  perhaps  you  might  be  fainting  somewhere  aud 
none  to  help  you.  How  fortunate  it  was  that  the  gentle- 
man came  along  just  as  you  fainted,  or  you  might  have 
lain  there  and  died  all  by  yourself." 

"  Though  I  am  yet  weak,  there  is  no  danger  of  my 
fainting  now,"  replied  Mattie,  "for  I  feel  my  cure  progress- 
ing.    My  heart  is  stronger  ;  I  shall  faint  no  more." 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  273 

11  Oh,  yes ;  that  is  the  buttermilk,  then,"  cried  the  de- 
lighted maker,  enthusiastically.  "  I  knew  my  buttermilk 
would  cure  you;  it  is  the  best  thing  in  the  world  for  weak 
insides." 

And  thus  our  friends  go  in  and  out  among  us,  and  some- 
times die  upon  our  bosoms,  and  we  know  not  the  cause. 
Had  Mattie  died  at  this  time, — and  she  would  have  died  had 
she  not  been  a  person  of  strong  resolution, — consumption 
would  have  received  the  blame  ;  and  although  that  monster 
does  cruel  work,  yet  he  is  not  the  assassin  he  is  said  to  be, 
for  thousands  die  of  a  broken  heart  where  one  dies  of  con- 
sumption. At  last  fatigue,  fresh  air,  and  resolution  over- 
came the  nervous  wakefulness,  and  blessed  sleep  triumph- 
antly chained  the  sufferer's  pain.  Improvement  was  now 
perceptible  to  every  one,  and  each  day  added  to  her  stock 
of  strength.  The  spell  that  had  bound  her  was  broken, 
the  specks  of  yellow  and  purple  ceased  to  bewilder  the  ex- 
cited vision,  and  floated  away  like  mist  before  the  risen 
sun.  With  the  healthy  reaction  came  a  longing  for  home ; 
and,  indeed,  a  longer  time  had  been  spent  away  thau  was 
at  first  intended.  The  convalescent  wished  again  to  stand 
by  the  bedside  of  the  dear  invalid  left  behind,  and  to 
soothe,  by  every  attention,  his  protracted  suffering.  Her 
heart,  released  from  its  bitter  thraldom,  returned  to  its  pris- 
tine allegiance  with  redoubled  strength,  and  she  promised 
her  Maker  and  herself  that,  true  as  the  magnet,  never  again 
should  it  swerve  from  the  pole  of  self-sacrifice  ;  that  hence- 
forth no  thought  should  intervene  to  exclude  her  father 
from  her  sole  devotion. 

And  now,  bidding  farewell  to  the  kind  woman  whose 
motherly  heart  had  yearned  so  tenderly  over  her,  Mattie 
returned  to  the  scene  of  active  duty.  Before  leaving  the 
neighborhood,  however,  she  sent  to  the  old  cabin  for  the 
portfolio,  which  she  remembered  to   have  left  upon  the 


2U  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

mantelpiece.  It  was  gone!  "  No  matter;  it  is  of  no  con- 
sequence," she  said.  "  I  suppose  some  mother-rat  has 
appropriated  the  papers  to  make  a  bed  for  her  young,  or 
perhaps  some  passing  sportsman  took  them  for  gun-wad- 
ding, considering  them  of  no  account;  and,  indeed,  they 
were  not  of  much,  for  I  wrote  those  poems  to  ease  an  ach- 
ing heart.  The  association  connected  with  them  is  not 
pleasant;  I  am  glad  they  are  gone."  And  thus  genius 
ever  underrates  itself. 


CHAPTER    LV. 

A   WEDDING. 

"  Hear  the  mellow  wedding-bells, 

Golden  bells  ! 
What  a  world  of  happiness  their  harmony  foretells! 

Through  the  balmy  air  of  night, 

How  they  ring  out  their  delight ! 
From  the  molten  golden  notes, 

All  in  tune, 
What  a  liquid  ditty  floats 
To  the  turtle-dove  that  listens  while  she  gloats 

On  the  moon !" 

A  wedding  is  being  celebrated  in  the  most  magnificent 
style  in  one  of  the  most  gorgeous  of  our  Southern  palaces. 
The  preparations  for  the  occasion  have  been  immense ; 
money  has  been  poured  out  like  water.  The  cost  of  the 
bride's  dress  would  be  a  snug  little  fortune  for  many  a  one, 
and  the  jewels  she  wears  would  furnish  capital  for  a  mer- 
chant. On  the  day  of  the  wedding  the  grandfather  of  the 
bride  presented  the  groom  elect  with  a  check  for  the  com- 
fortable little  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  merely  for  loose 
change,  for  market-money  with  which  to  commence  house- 
keeping, the  old  man  said.     But,  before  the  sun  declined, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  275 

the  thrifty  groom  had  invested  to  the  best  advantage  the 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  not  doubting  but  that  enough  loose 
change  for  housekeeping  purposes  could  be  found  scattered 
in  Miss  Mary's  workbasket,  or  tied  in  corners  of  pocket- 
handkerchiefs,  or  stuffed  in  fingers  of  old  gloves. 

No  greater  contrast  in  nature  could  be  presented  than 
that  which  was  afforded  by  the  sight  of  these  two  persons 
as  they  stood  together  vowing  to  be  one.  She,  the  puny, 
humpbacked,  imbecile  cripple  ;  he,  the  tall,  majestic,  firm- 
knit,  symmetrical  man,  possessing  that  combination  so 
rarely  found  united  in  either  man  or  woman — beauty  and 
intellect,  We  can  think  of  nothing  that  would  so  much 
resemble  this  unsightly  union  as  the  mating  of  a  splendid 
Arabian  courser  with  a  miserable  donkey.  But,  then, 
externals  are  not  all ;  if  the  donkey  had  a  soul !  but  when 
there  is  neither  soul  nor  body,  what  is  there  ?  Why,  they 
tell,  the  golden  bells,  from  out  their  molten  golden  cells, 
with  their  molten,  golden  notes  all  in  tune, — they  tell  of 
the  rapture  that  impels  to  the  ringing  of  the  gold  !  gold  ! 
gold  !  to  the  ringing  and  the  shining  of  the  gold  ! 

As  Professor  Waverly  approached  the  altar  with  that 
girl  on  his  arm,  a  sense  of  his  own  moral  degradation 
came  over  him  so  vividly  that  his  head  sank  upon  his 
bosom,  and  his  eye  refused  to  meet  the  eye  of  any  one 
present.  So  perceptibly  did  he  shrink  as  to  elicit  remarks 
from  many  of  the  "  dear  five  hundred  friends"  assembled 
to  honor  the  occasion ;  but  when  it  was  over,  when  the 
knot  was  tied  which  may  be  cut  but  cannot  be  untied, 
when  the  generous  old  wine  had  freely  circulated,  the  man 
of  the  downcast  look  threw  off  his  dejection  and  assumed 
a  gayety  which  passed  with  the  bride  and  her  doting 
grandfather  for  genuine  happiness.  To  a  keen  observer, 
however,  there  was  a  compression  about  the  mouth  and  a 
gleam  in  the  eye  which  told  as  plainly  as  words  could  have 


2^6  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

told,  that  the  lucky  man  cursed  his  fate, — a  fate  which  had 
made  him  the  petted  dupe  of  Fortune's  sueering  smile. 
He  resigned  his  bride  to  the  care  of  her  dozen  bridesmaids, 
and,  to  divert  his  thoughts,  joined  the  card-players.  He 
never  played  so  badly  in  his  life  ;  he  was  unable  to  con- 
centrate his  thoughts  upon  a  single  throw,  and,  as  he  lost 
continually,  how  he  wished  that  he  could  stake  his  bride ! 
Regardless  of  loss,  he  played  with  desperate  avidity,  seem- 
ingly afraid  to  look  from  his  cards,  lest  he  should  see  the 
woman  he  had  sworn  to  love  and  cherish.  A  lady  among 
the  numerous  guests  so  strikingly  resembled  Matilda  Doug- 
las that  whenever  she  approached  the  unhappy  man  his 
forehead  became  moist  and  clammy,  the  end  of  his  nose 
and  the  tips  of  his  fingers  grew  cold  as  though  a  chill  ap- 
proached, and  he  would  call  vigorously  for  more  wine  ! 

And  thou,  neglected  bride,  as  thou  reposest  upon  thy 
pillow  of  down,  trimmed  with  the  richest  lace  money 
could  procure,  dream'st  not  that  he  who  reposes  by  thy 
side,  and,  in  scorn  and  mockery  of  words,  calls  thee  wife, 
would  willingly,  could  he  but  clutch  thy  gold,  see  thee 
given  a  prey  to  the  ravenous  jaws  of  all-devouring 
beasts,  or  precipitated  clown  that  bottomless  abyss  whose 
depth  is  only  equaled  by  eternity,  and  whose  perpetual 
moan  of  hollow-sounding  woe  is  the  echo  its  black 
caverns  give  to  the  unceasing  wail  of  spirits  lost !  lost ! 
lost !  A  few  days  after  the  marriage,  Mrs.  Waverly  com- 
plained to  her  husband  that  he  had  made  her  so  mean  a 
wedding  present, — nothing  but  a  simple  ring, — and,  in 
her  pouting,  pettish  way,  she  said,  "  You  might  have 
given  me  something  handsome  out  of  the  fifty  thousand 
dollars  grandpa  gave  you ;  but  I  really  believe  you  think 
more  of  money  than  you  do  of  me."  The  new-made 
husband  smiled  a  grim,  dry  smile,  and  replied,  "  Really, 
Mary,  you  have  commenced  Curtain-lectures  early." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  277 


CHAPTER    LVL 

AUTHORS  AND  CRITICS. 

"  He  that  writes, 
Or  makes  a  feast,  more  certainly  invites 
His  judges  than  his  friends;  there's  not  a  guest 
But  will  find  something  wanting  or  ill  drest." 

An  incognito  poet  or  poetess — none  but  the  initiated  knew 
which — had  just  crept  into  the  public  prints,  slyly,  silently, 
as  a  mouse  might  creep  into  a  cheese-box,  and  those  cats 
of  creation,  the  critics,  had  got  their  paws  upon  the  poems, 
which,  like  motherless  and  fatherless  orphans,  were  wan- 
dering, unprotected  by  a  name,  up  and  down  among  the 
periodicals  of  the  day. 

Some,  of  course,  damned  with  faint  praise,  because  that 
is  the  sitting-on-the-fence  style,  and  the  party  may  jump 
either  side  hereafter.  Some,  as  the  cat  plays  with  her 
victim  before  slaughtering  it,  toyed  with  the  effusions 
long  enough  to  make  an  article  fill  a  certain  space,  and 
then  swallowed  them  at  a  gulp. 

One  cat  in  boots  said  the  poems  reminded  him  of  the 
child  spoken  of  in  Pickwick  ;  the  poor  infant  had  swal- 
lowed twenty-five  wooden  beads,  and  as  the  father  ran 
along  the  street,  carrying  the  little  unfortunate  to  the  doc- 
tor, the  beads  rattled  so  loudly  in  the  child,  that  passers-by 
looked  up  into  the  heavens,  and  down  into  cellars,  to  find 
where  the  noise  came  from,  but  could  find  nothing  save 
rattle,  rattle,  rattle  ! 

Another  said  the  poems  were  mere  clippings  of  ideas 
from  everything  that  had  ever  been  written.     Another 

24 


278  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

said  they  were  unmistakably  original,  they  were  so  outre 
and  nondescript.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  critic 
crew — a  crusty  old  bachelor,  with  all  his  manliness  dried 
up  in  him, — no  wonder  he  was  crusty — swore  the  poems 
were  written  by  a  woman,  because  they  were  as  soft  and 
insipid,  as  faint  and  flat,  as  an  over-ripe  squash. 

Another  said  the  poems  were  certainly  written  by  a 
man,  because  they  showed  a  strength  of  character  of  which 
a  woman  was  incapable.  One  said  the  rhythm  was  good, 
but  the  ideas  poor.  Another  said  the  ideas  were  grand, 
but  the  rhythm  imperfect.  One  poor  henpecked  fellow 
said  the  poems  were  unquestionably  the  effusion  of  a 
manly  heart  bruised  and  lacerated  by  a  termagant  wife. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  was  said  by  that  class  of 
writers  who  can  say  better  than  they  can  do,  the  poems 
under  discussion  had  taken  the  public  fancy,  and  were 
being  read  all  over  the  land,  read  and  appreciated  by  a  peo- 
ple who  do  not  wait  to  know  the  opinions  of  those  who, 
to  make  up  an  article,  very  frequently  denounce  a  book 
without  so  much  as  reading  it. 

The  balls  and  dinners  given  to  the  bride — Mrs.  Waverly 
— were  both  numerous  and  splendid.  The  professor  was 
freely  introduced  into,  and  cordially  received  by,  the  fash- 
ionable circle  that  was  his  wife's  by  inheritance.  He  was 
a  man  of  brilliant  parts,  highly  accomplished,  and  of  good 
character  in  the  general  acceptation  of  the  term.  His 
matrimonial  speculation,  among  men  of  the  world,  only 
elicited  a  smile  and  a  shrug ;  it  did  not  depreciate  him  in 
the  eyes  of  Society,  and  the  wonderful  institution  called 
by  that  name  opened  its  doors  and  admitted  him. 

As  the  professor's  taste  in  literature  was  established,  he 
was  often  made  umpire  on  a  contested  point.  The  poems 
of  which  we   have  spoken   were  then  being  issued,  and 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  279 

were  much  the  topic  in  refined  circles.  The  professor 
openly  declared  himself  the  champion  of  these  produc- 
tions, and  announced  his  intention  of  taking  up  his  pen- 
weapon  in  their  defense.  He  pronounced  them  far  above 
mediocrity,  and  predicted  great  things  for  the  future  of  the 
talented  author,  if  the  critic  catawaulers  did  not,  in  their 
thirst  for  the  blood  of  authors,  frighten  this  evideutly 
timid  and  unpretending  claimant  from  the  field.  So  eulo- 
gistic was  the  learned  man,  and  so  fiercely  did  he  battle 
for  the  writings  under  discussion,  that  a  suspicion  obtained 
credence  to  the  effect  that  himself  was  the  author.  This 
insinuation  brought  him  out,  and  he  repelled  it,  by  pro- 
claiming the  author  to  be  a  woman.  He  said  he  was  well 
acquainted  with  her,  and  knew  all  about  the  publication 
of  the  poems. 

Mrs.  Waverly  was  not  in  the  least  interested  in  litera- 
ture, and,  in  fact,  knew  so  little  of  the  matter  as  to  be 
scarcely  able  to  distinguish  prose  from  poetry,  and  cer- 
tainly not  between  poetry  and  rhyme  ;  but  the  animation 
of  her  husband,  when  defending  this  woman-author, 
aroused  her  jealousy,  poor  thing,  and  she  exclaimed,  "  Oh, 
some  old  flame  of  the  professor's,  no  doubt,  or  he  would 
not  be  so  heated  in  her  defense."  The  professor  colored 
slightly,  but  took  no  notice  of  his  wife's  abrupt  sally, — 
she  was  famous  for  abrupt  sallies, — and  went  on  to  pre- 
dict great  things  in  future  for  the  talented  writer,  and  a 
high  position  in  the  literary  world. 

"  And  I  dare  say  she  will  take  my  position,  too,  one  of 
these  days,"  said  his  wife,  with  another  abrupt  sally. 

And  now,  poor  bride — poor  with  all  thjr  riches — we  bid 
thee  farewell !  When  we  hear  of  thee  again,  thou  wilt  be 
cold  in  thy  marble  tomb,  reposing  by  the  side  of  thy  weak 
and  too  indulgent  grandfather,  in  the  grand  family  mauso- 
leum. 


280  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    LYII. 

MATTIE   AN   AUTHOR. 

"  Some  are  cradled  into  poetry  by  wrong, 
And  learn  in  suffering  what  they  teach  in  song." 

It  must  have  occurred  to  the  reader  of  the  last  chapter 
that  the  poems  so  elaborately  patronized  by  the  learned 
man  had  some  connection  with  the  little  portfolio  found 
on  the  murky  hearth  of  the  ruined  cabin.  When  the 
eulogizer  pocketed  those  papers,  he  certainly  intended  re- 
turning them  to  the  owner  after  having  gratified  his  curi- 
osity (whether  laudable  or  not  we  do  not  pretend  to  say) 
by  a  perusal  of  their  contents.  But  the  opportunity  of 
returning  them  never  presented  itself,  and,  like  Pluto's 
shadow,  the  package  still  followed  the  purloiner.  In 
justice  to  him,  however,  it  must  be  said  that  neither  note 
nor  message  could  have  been  transmitted  to  Mattie  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  Miss  Flum,  and  that  would  have 
spoiled  all  his  prospects ;  neither  did  he  know  where  she 
was  staying  in  the  neighborhood,  and  he  dared  not  ask. 
So  the  little  portfolio,  with  its  eloquent  contents,  still  lay 
undisturbed  at  the  bottom  of  a  securely  locked  trunk. 

No  doubt  it  suggested  itself  to  the  mind  of  Waverly  to 
put  the  papers  where  he  had  found  them,  as  in  all  proba- 
bility the  owner  would  return  for  them  ;  but  a  dread  of 
their  falling  into  stranger  hands,  as  they  had  fallen  into  his 
own,  prevented  this  easy  method  of  getting  rid  of  them. 
At  last  a  bright  thought  flashed  across  his  ponderiug  brain. 
"  These  poems  are  above  mediocrity.   I  will  publish  them, 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  281 

and  perhaps  the  author  may  yet  live  to  bless  rather  than 
to  curse  my  name  I"  This  was  the  new  thought,  and 
with  the  thinker  to  will  was  to  do. 

Mattie  found  the  periodical  which  contained  her  effu- 
sions upon  her  table,  the  first  intimation  she  had  of  their 
coutinued  existence.  Many  complimentary  remarks  ac- 
companied the  publication,  and  a  solicitation  for  others, 
begging  the  author's  pen  not  to  remain  idle  when  it  could 
yield  gems  with  every  stroke  ! 

Now,  the  great  question  with  the  writer  was,  who  could 
have  published  these  lost  and  almost  forgotten  papers  ? 
Certainly  not  the  tender  mother-rat  into  whose  keeping 
Mattie's  mind  had  consigned  them  as  bedding  for  her 
young ;  nor  yet  the  passing  sportsman, — oh,  yes ;  this 
last  thought  afforded  a  clue  !  Some  passing  sportsman  or 
excursionist  had  found  the  papers,  and  who  so  likely  to  be 
the  person  as  Professor  Waverly  ?  His  restlessness  was 
proverbial  in  the  county.  People  said  he  would  rather 
live  in  the  woods  with  the  owls,  than  in  the  house  with 
his  affianced.  Mattie  at  first  considered  this  conjecture  an 
established  fact,  and  then  she  reasoned  upon  it  until  she 
rejected  it ;  for  why  should  she  expect  kindness  from  him  ? 
He  had  shown  her  nothing  but  contempt  since  the  day  on 
which  he  stole  her  heart  and  then  cast  it  from  him  as  a 
thing  unclean.  Thus  did  she  reason,  conjecture,  and 
reject. 

The  poem  entitled  "  The  Burial  of  Love11  was  not  pub- 
lished; withheld  from  public  gaze  by  the  man  who  made 
the  misery,  because  he  felt  it  to  be  too  sacred  a  heart- 
throb for  the  eye  of  the  curious.  It  told  its  own  story  too 
plainly, — the  bleeding  heart  dripping  all  the  way ;  and 
herein  lay  Mattie's  strength  as  a  writer ;  her  pen  was  a 
pencil ;  the  reader  saw  as  well  as  heard.  Mattie  was 
grateful  to  the  publisher  for  withholding  this  poem,  and 

24* 


282  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

that  circumstance,  more  than  any  other,  served  to  fix  sus- 
picion on  Waverly,  because  he  only  could  have  understood 
those  lines,  and  all  the  intensity  of  anguish  they  por- 
trayed, even  then  but  half  expressed.  Every  nerve  of 
the  poor  girl's  quivering  heart  was  being  torn  from  its 
clasping-sheath  when  those  lines  were  written.  To  ease 
the  burden  that  was  insupportable,  she  poured  forth  her 
soul  in  mournful  numbers ;  told  the  story  of  her  love  in 
simple  but  sadly  plaintive  tones,  and  such  as  were  well 
understood  by  him,  the  cause  of  all  this  suffering.  We 
have  seen  that  one  generous  impulse  was  aroused  in  his 
selfish  heart,  and  perhaps  it  was  this  poem  that  did  the 
work,  with  its  wail  of  "  love,  love  that  was  her  all  of 
wealth,  and  had  been  wasted  like  water  in  a  broken 
bowl." 

The  poem  entitled  u  The  JRescue,"  and  which  embodied 
the  history  of  Mattie's  flight  from  school,  her  dip  into  the 
flood,  her  escape  from  impending  death,  her  gratitude  to 
the  brave  boy  her  preserver,  was  admitted  by  the  most 
fastidious  to  be  an  effort  of  superior  merit.  And  this 
poem  made  Mattie's  fortune.  Letters  flowed  in  upon  her, 
o  fferiug  rival  prices  for  her  contributions,  and  thus  mys- 
teriously was  she  made  acquainted  with  her  rich  and 
graceful  intellect.  She  delighted  in  nothing  now  so  much 
as  in  her  pen,  and  prose  and  poetry  gushed  forth  as 
water  from  the  smitten  rock.  Every  effort  was  received 
with  a  fresh  burst  of  applause  from  this  most  friendly  of 
reviewers,  and  the  remuneration  given  was  generous  to 
profusion. 

Who  could  this  unknown  benefactor  be  ?  was  of  course, 
to  Mattie's  mind,  a  constantly  recurring  question.  She 
knew  that  Waverly  was  a  literary  man,  and  that  he  once 
wrote  for  pay;  but  she  did  not  know  that  he  was  now 
master  where  once  he  served.     Had  she  known  this,  all 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  283 

doubt  would  have  been  at  an  end.  Since,  however,  this 
unknown  friend  chose  to  shroud  himself  in  mystery,  the 
recipient  of  his  bounty,  with  great  good  sense,  made  no 
effort  at  discovery,  but  quietly  toiled  on,  and  gratefully 
gathered  the  fruit  a  kind  and  beneficent  Providence,  who 
brings  good  out  of  evil,  had  placed  within  her  reach. 
After  a  time  she  discarded  the  small  shot  of  literature,  and, 
taking  courage  from  the  past,  attempted  the  bullet,  as  Sir 
Walter  Scott  calls  the  volume  in  contradistinction  to  the 
random  sheet.  Her  success  was  even  greater  than  before, 
and  now  the  full-fledged  author  stood  confessed.  Fame 
and  money  lay  at  her  feet,  filled  her  lap ;  it  was  scarcely 
necessary  for  her  to  stoop  to  pick  up  the  golden  and  flowery 
gems  of  wealth  and  plaudits  that  bestrewed  her  path. 

"  Though  the  world  should  thee  disown, 

Turn  not  coward  and  despair; 
Prove  thou  the  rejected  stone 

True  to  the  Eternal  Square, 
And  the  mighty  Builder  may, 

In  the  wondrous  scheme  of  man, 
Set  thy  life  some  glorious  day 

The  grand  keystone  of  his  plan." 


284  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    LVIII. 

DEATH. 

"  Death  is  the  privilege  of  human  nature, 
And  life  without  it  were  not  worth  our  taking. 
Thither  the  poor,  the  prisoner,  and  the  mourner 
Fly  for  relief,  and  lay  their  burden  down." 

It  matters  not  bow  long  death  may  have  threatened  a 
loved  one,  we  are  unprepared  for  the  blow  when  it  falls. 
We  are  unprepared  to  acquiesce  in  a  severance  of  hearts, 
because  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  that  they  will  ever 
be  reunited.  Mattie  had  labored  for  her  father  until  his 
existence  became  the  stimulant  necessary  to  exertion. 
Many  a  time  and  oft  would  she  have  given  up,  yielded  to 
the  fate  that  seemed  ready  to  engulf  her,  and  implored 
death  to  relieve  her  of  herself,  only  that  her  father,  help- 
less and  unsolaced,  depended  solely  upon  her  care.  For 
his  sake,  then,  she  must  strain  anew  those  jaded  powers, 
must  rouse,  as  by  a  mighty  effort,  those  flagging  energies, 
must  make  another  effort  to  hold  up,  and  hold  on.  Now 
that  he  is  gone,  she  will  have  but  little  heart  to  work. 
Fortunately,  her  work  is  done.  A  kind  Providence  ushers 
upon  her  another  epoch,  and  removes  from  her  generous 
care  the  mainspring  of  her  action  when  its  existence  is  no 
longer  necessary.  Had  Mattie  been  nourished  in  the  lap 
of  luxury,  in  all  probability  those  powers  of  mind  which 
she  possessed  might  never  have  been  developed ;  hence 
misfortune  proved  a  blessing,  and  by  throes  of  deepest 
anguish  her  talents  were  brought  forth, — were  made  effect- 
ive.    These,  nourished  by  stern  necessity,  like  the  snow- 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  285 

flower,  blossomed  and  exhaled  sweets  when  all  else  was 
dead. 

The  ill  management  of  Mr.  Douglas  and  his  subsequent 
misfortune  threw  upon  his  child  the  burden  of  his  life  and 
her  own.  Nobly  did  she  battle  with  adverse  fortune, 
and  gloriously  did  she  triumph ;  and  he  lived  to  see  her 
through  it  all, — to  see  her  placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
care.  True,  her  own  industry  and  ability,  by  the  blessing 
of  Heaven,  had  accomplished  the  work  ;  but  her  un- 
looked-for success  was  to  her  father  a  gilding  of  his  even- 
ing cloud  after  a  stormy  day  ;  and  his  language  to  Mattie 
was,  "  Now  let  me  depart  in  peace,  for  I  have  seen  thy 
glory." 

The  night  is  lighted  by  the  silver  moon  for  a  center- 
lamp,  and  her  starry  adjuncts,  as  side-lights,  glitter  round. 
The  air  is  hot  and  oppressive.  Mattie  has  been  seated  by 
her  father's  bedside  the  livelong  day,  fanning  him  and  ad- 
ministering refreshing  draughts.  It  is  obvious  to  all  that 
he  is  sinking  rapidly.  Now  a  cooling  breeze  sways  in  and 
out  the  thin  drapery  hanging  at  the  chamber  window  ; 
with  the  breeze  comes  the  perfume  of  flowers  growing 
in  the  yard.  The  sick  man  has  requested  the  light  in  the 
room  to  be  extinguished,  and  all  but  his  daughter  to  with- 
draw. Said  he,  "  Let  me  have  the  moonlight ;  I  only  want 
the  light  that  God  has  made,  and  I  want  to  view  his  won- 
drous works  once  more  in  this  lower  world,  ere  I  go  to 
gaze  upon  his  greater  glories  in  regions  of  never-ending 
existence.  And  now,  Mattie,  my  love,  come  and  lay  your 
head  upon  my  pillow  for  the  last  time ;  lay  your  cheek  to 
my  cheek,  your  hand  in  my  hand,  while  I  pass  this  dark 
river  whose  chilling  waters  lave  my  feet.  Mattie,  I  have 
grievously  sinned  against  God,  and  against  thee,  my  child  ; 
but  "where  much  is  forgiven,  the  same  loveth  much."  I  am 
happy.     Behold  the  silver  lining  of  yon  lovely  cloud  1  from 


286  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

out  its  shining  folds  your  mother  looks.     She  beckons  me 
away.     I  come!     I  c-o-m-e  !     I  come  !" 

The  hand  relaxed  its  grasp,  the  cheek  fell  cold  against 
Mattie's  cheek, — all  was  over.  And  thus  in  the  moonlit 
chamber,  alone  with  his  daughter,  the  sufferer  for  many 
a  weary  year  was  launched  upon  that  dark  stream  which 
bears  all  to  their  destined  port. 


CHAPTER    LIX. 

REMORSE. 

"  If  hearty  sorrow 
Be  a  sufficient  ransom  for  offense, 
I  tender  it  here ;  I  do  as  truly  suffer 
As  e'er  I  did  commit." 

A  short  time  after  the  death  of  her  father,  Mattie 
received  an  invitation  to  participate  in  the  editorship  of  a 
popular  New  York  journal,  to  which  she  had  been  a 
voluminous  contributor.  The  offer  pleased  her  well :  she 
desired  change  of  scene  and  labor,  something  new  to  divert 
her  thoughts  at  that  melancholy  period, — most  melancholy 
to  her,  for  her  father  had  become  like  a  loved  infant 
whose  smile  and  clasp  of  hand  were  indispensable  to  her 
happiness.  Would  that  our  land  could  boast  more  such 
(laughters !  Honor  and  renown  were  nothiug  to  Mattie 
unless  shared  by  some  loved  being;  he  was  all  she  had  to 
love,  and,  now  that  he  was  gone,  life  had  no  duties  left, — 
and  what  is  life  worth  without  duties  to  perform  and  labor 
to  share  with  those  we  love  ? 

Mattie  was  busy  one  day  in  packing  her  books  prepara- 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  287 

tory  to  taking  up  her  residence  in  the  metropolis  of  America, 
and  had  given  directions  that  no  visitors  should  be  admitted. 
The  old  servant  had  scarcely  received  her  orders  when  she 
came  running  into  the  library  in  the  most  excited  manner, 
saying,  "  Oh,  ma'am,  a  woman  has  entered  the  kitchen  by 
the  alley,  and  will  take  no  denial,  but  refuses  to  leave  the 
house  without  seeing  you.  She  says  '  it  is  a  matter  of  life 
and  death,'  and  she  will  not  trust  me  with  the  message  !" 

11 1  will  go  to  her,"  said  Mattie ;  and,  slipping  her  purse 
into  her  pocket,  she  descended  into  the  kitchen. 

Said  the  visitor,  "  I  am  come  to  you,  ma'am,  at  the 
request  of  a  person  who  is  at  my  house,  and,  I  believe,  in 
a  dying  condition  ;  she  thinks  so  herself,  and  says  she  can- 
not die  in  peace  without  seeing  you." 

"  Who  is  she  ?"  interrogated  Mattie,  in  great  astonish- 
ment. 

"  Her  name  is  Gilt,"  replied  the  woman. 

Now,  Mattie  at  once  perceived  that  this  was  a  poor  Irish- 
woman, of  the  class  usuall}r  called  washerwomen,  or,  as 
the  French  say,  blanchisseases,  and  that  the  fashionable 
Mrs.  Gilt  should  be  domiciled  in  such  unfashionable  quar- 
ters as  the  house  of  a  woman  of  this  class  was  perfectly 
incredible. 

"You  have  certainly  an  impostor  with  you,"  said 
Mattie.  "  The  lady  whom  I  know  by  that  name  could  not 
be  with  you  in  the  condition  described." 

"  Yes,  ma'am,"  replied  the  woman,  "  she  is,  indeed  ;  her 
daughter  turned  her  out  of  the  house,  and,  sick  and  poor, 
she  came  to  me  for  a  night's  lodging ;  in  the  morning  she 
was  unable  to  go  away,  and  there  she  is  yet,  and  there  she 
will  be,  until  she  is  carried  out  in  her  coffin." 

"  Her  daughter  turn  her  out  of  the  house  ?  Why,  you 
surprise  me  beyond  measure  !  I  cannot  realize  what  you 
say  can  be  true !"  replied  the  mystified  Mattie. 


288  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

"  Well,  ma'am,  come  and  see  for  yourself,  and  you  will 
find  what  I  tell  you  is  the  truth.  Her  daughter  keeps  a 
boarding-house  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  and  the  poor 
old  mother  was  not  pleased  with  her  imprudent  conduct, 
and  said  something  to  her  on  the  subject,  when  the  vile 
wretch  struck  her  own  mother  and  drove  her  into  the  street. 
I  live  in  an  alley  near  them,  and  make  my  living  by  wash- 
ing. As  you  will  think,  ma'am,  I  have  little  to  give  away ; 
but  when  the  poor  woman  came  crying  to  me,  I  could  not 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  turn  her  off,  and  so  you  know  as 
much  as  I  do  of  the  affair  entirely." 

"  I  cannot  realize  an  act  so  atrocious  !"  said  Mattie,  still 
incredulous. 

"  Well,  the  poor  old  soul  said  it  was  the  judgment 
of  God  upon  her  for  the  way  in  which  she  had  treated  a 
young  girl  that  came  to  her  house,  asking  aid  and  assist- 
ance, which  she  refused,  although  they  owed  the  child's 
father  money.  Now,  you  are  the  person ;  and  the  dying 
woman  wishes  to  see  you  and  ask  your  forgiveness  before 
she  goes  to  the  other  world." 

"  I  will  go  to  her  at  once,"  said  Mattie,  "and  my  par- 
don she  shall  freely  have,  for  I  had  almost  forgotten  her 
existence,  and  certainly  did  not  remember  it  in  anger.  But 
what  has  become  of  their  wealth  ?  You  say  her  daughter 
is  keeping  a  boarding-house  ?" 

"  The  old  woman  says  that  her  daughter's  husband, 
Grandspirt  or  Grandsquirt,  I  don't  know  which,  went 
through  with  all  his  wife's  money,  and  with  hers  too, 
and  as  much  as  he  could  get  of  the  other  daughter's, 
and  reduced  them  to  poverty  by  his  gambling  and  specu- 
lating in  fast  horses,  and  finally  drank  himself  to  death." 

"  Where  is  the  other  daughter,  Caroline,  of  whom  you 
speak?"  inquired  Mattie. 

11  She  married  a  young  physician,  and  went  to  the  West 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  289 

to  live,"  replied  the  woman,  "and  the  old  mother  wishes 
to  go  to  her  if  she  can  find  the  means  when  she  recovers ; 
but,  indeed,  ma'am,  she  will  never  more  walk  out  of  my 
house,  I  am  sure  of  that." 

"  I  will  see  her  at  once,"  said  Mattie,  and  immediately 
accompanied  the  messenger  to  the  bedside  of  the  sick 
woman  ;  neither  did  she  go  without  her  purse. 

At  sight  of  Mattie,  poor  Mrs.  Gilt  choked  and  coughed, 
and  appeared  strangling  with  emotion.  "Oh,  Miss  Douglas !" 
she  gasped,  "  I  have  thought  so  much  of  the  treatment  that 
I  gave  you  in  your  days  of  helpless  childhood  when  you 
asked  my  assistance  in  procuring  bread  for  your  sick 
father,  and  I  refused  it,  although  we  owed  him  the  money; 
when  I  coldly  turned  you  from  my  door  and  put  in  circu- 
lation a  false  report  about  you,  that  I  felt  as  if  I  could 
not  die  without  asking  your  forgiveness.  When  I  found 
we  were  losing  our  money  by  the  dissipation  of  my  un- 
fortunate daughter's  husband,  I  often  told  the  girls  that 
we  were  not  lucky  on  account  of  the  money  we  owed 
your  father ;  but  Belinda  would  not  listen  to  me,  and  now 
I  believe  the  poor  girl  has  lost  her  mind,  for  she  has  turned 
me  from  her  house  and  left  me  to  die  in  the  street." 

"  Arrah,  the  painted  hussy  !  She  has  not  lost  her  mind, 
but  has  the  devil  in  her  I"  put  in  the  Irishwoman. 

"  Oh,  child,  how  was  it  that  you  did  not  starve  to  death, 
as  my  wicked  daughter  hoped  you  would  ?"  asked  the 
sick  and  penitent  woman. 

"  God  took  care  of  me  and  raised  me  up  friends  among 
those  upon  whom  I  had  no  claim,"  replied  Mattie,  "and 
He  will  also  take  care  of  you  if  you  put  your  trust  in 
Him ;  for  He  hath  said,  '  None  that  cometh  to  me  will  I 
cast  out.'  " 

"  But  I  am  so  unworthy,  and  have  been  so  great  a  sin- 
ner, can  there  be  mercy  in  the  sweet  heavens  for  me?" 

25 


290  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

" '  Though  thy  sins  be  as  scarlet  He  will  make  them 
white  as  snow,'  is  the  divine  promise,"  replied  Mattie. 

11  If  I  could  but  go  to  my  dear  Caroline  and  die  under 
her  roof,  I  would  be  content,"  continued  Mrs.  Gilt;  "  but 
I  am  unable  to  travel  if  I  had  the  means,  and  there  is 
nothing  left  for  me  but  to  die  in  a  pauper-house." 

"  You  shall  not  die  in  a  pauper-house,"  said  Mattie  ;  "  I 
will  provide  for  you  the  rest  of  your  life." 

The  afflicted  woman  essayed  to  speak,  but  tears  choked 
her  utterance.  Mattie  now  approached  the  woman  of  the 
house  and  requested  her  to  go  for  a  physician  at  once,  as 
she  thought  Mrs.  Gilt  required  immediate  attention  of  the 
very  best  kind.  Mattie  sat  by  the  side  of  the  sick  woman 
until  the  medicine  man  arrived,  who  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
that  the  patient  might  live  a  few  days  and  she  might  die 
in  a  few  hours,  as  it  was  evident  she  had  received  some 
internal  injury.  He  then  questioned  the  patient  closely, 
who  at  last  confessed  that  she  had  been  pushed  down- 
stairs. She  made  this  admission  evidently  with  great 
reluctance,  fearing  to  implicate  her  wretched  daughter. 
The  doctor  ordered  an  opiate,  and  left.  Mattie  adminis- 
tered the  medicine  and  waited  until  it  took  effect ;  then, 
promising  the  nurse  to  return  in  a  short  time,  she  bent 
her  steps  to  her  own  house  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
nourishment  for  the  sinking  woman.  On  Mattie's  return, 
she  found  Mrs.  Gilt  asleep ;  presently  she  coughed,  and 
awoke.  Seeing  a  sweet  face  bending  over  her,  she  extended 
her  arms  as  if  to  embrace  the  visitor ;  they  fell  powerless 
by  her  side.  Mattie  took  one  of  the  emaciated  hands,  and 
pressing  it,  said,  "  My  friend,  the  messenger  is  not  far  from 
you;  if  you  have  a  request  to  make,  make  it  now.  Shall 
I  send  for  Belinda?" 

"Oh,  no!  no!"  shuddered  the  dying  woman,  "  see  me 
buried  yourself,  and  write  to  Caroline,  but  don't  tell  her  all !" 


OR   MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  291 

Another  fit  of  coughing  seized  the  unfortunate  woman, 
she  threw  up  a  mouthful  of  blood,  fell  back,  and  expired. 

Mattie  attended  to  the  funeral,  provided  a  decent  coffin, 
neat  and  plain.  A  hearse  and  one  carriage  composed  the 
funeral  cortege.  The  coffin-maker,  the  Irishwoman,  and 
Mattie  were  all  that  followed  to  the  grave  the  once  fash- 
ionable Mrs.  Gilt ;  and  thus  the  weak  and  wickedly  ambi- 
tious woman  was  ushered  into  her  long  home.  Mattie 
then  wrote  to  Caroline  of  her  mother's  death,  softening 
the  facts  as  much  as  possible,  nor  ever  once  intimated  that 
the  hand  of  charity — her  hand — had  provided  for  that 
mother  a  grave  and  death-bed  attendance. 


CHAPTER    LX. 


THE    ARTIST. 


"  Immortal  Art !  where'er  thy  rounded  sky 
Bends  o'er  the  cradle  where  thy  children  lie, 
Their  home  is  earth,  their  herald  every  tongue." 

Long  years  have  passed,  and  the  boy,  Bill  Botherme- 
not,  as  his  companions  for  sport,  but  not  derision,  called 
him,  is  yet  a  voluntary  exile  from  the  land  of  his  birth. 
He  had  vowed  a  vow  within  himself  never  to  return  until 
he  returned  one  of  those  of  whom  his  nation  must  be 
proud. 

His  spirit  has  held  long  communing,  through  their 
works,  with  the  spirits  of  the  great  departed.  He  has 
spent  years  in  the  society  of  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo, 
Titian,  and  other  of  the  masters,  who  defy  alike  the  grave 
and  the  conquests  of  time,  and  who  now  stand  with  one 


292  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

foot  upon  the  mighty  past,  and  the  other  ever  speeding  on 
till  the  consummation  of  all  things  shall  blot  out  the  re- 
membrance of  earth  and  that  which  her  sons  call  great. 
We  are  told  there  will  be  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, 
but  whether  the  great  things  of  the  old  earth  will  be  the 
great  things  of  the  new,  we  are  unable  to  decide. 

Allston  lingered  near  the  immortal  efforts  of  these  im- 
mortal men  until  his  soul  caught  the  spark  that  had  lighted 
theirs,  until  he,  like  them,  could  create,  by  his  own  will, 
forms  that  seem  to  live  and  breathe,  such  as  need  not  lan- 
guage to  convey  a  thought,  but  make  the  attitude  of  a 
finger  or  the  expression  of  an  eye  tell  the  cherished 
secret  of  the  defying  lip.  His  purpose  is  at  last  accom- 
plished, and  now  he  will  return  to  his  much-loved  home- 
land, and  although  he  does  not  expect  it,  yet  he  will  re- 
ceive the  ovation  which  a  nation's  just  and  generous  pride 
is  ready  to  bestow.  Borne  upon  the  breeze  comes  the 
news, — Allston,  the  great  American  artist,  is  returning 
home,  laden  with  the  toil  of  years,  and  will  soon  be  here 
to  lay  his  rich  treasure  at  his  country's  feet.  Shall  the 
offering  be  spurned,  or  will  Columbia  acknowledge  the  ob- 
ligation ?  She  will !  As  the  vessel  that  contains  this 
precious  freight  nears  her  bed  in  New  York  harbor,  salutes 
from  deep-mouthed  cannon  cleave  the  air, — as  a  conqueror 
comes  he  is  ushered  in,  and  thousands  crowd  to  greet 
him  ;  to  look  upon  him  ;  to  hold  him  by  the  hand, — this 
Titian  of  the  later  day, — and  to  say,  Welcome  1  thrice 
welcome  home  again,  gifted  son  of  America ! 

When  the  day  that  was  named  for  the  opening  of  his  pic- 
ture-gallery arrived,  crowds  from  all  parts  of  the  nation 
throng  the  portals  of  this  temple  of  glorious  art.  Artists 
from  east,  west,  north,  and  south  come  to  enlarge  their 
capacities  at  this  fount,  and  drink  deeper  inspiration  at  this 
shrine.     Men  of  taste  and  money  come  to  purchase  paint- 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  293 

ings  that  shall  descend  to  their  posterity  as  heirlooms  of 
priceless  value,  because  they  can  never  be  replaced.  The 
white-haired  patriarch  comes  with  deep  emotion,  and 
swells  the  tide  of  eulogy  that  is  rolling  over  the  author  of 
this  new  creation.  Mothers  bring  hither  their  infant  sons, 
hoping  the  mantle  of  inspiration  may  fall  upon  them,  and 
that  they  too  may  become  Allstons  !  Lovers  escort  to 
this  enchanted  place  the  objects  of  their  devotion,  for  the 
chance  of  winning  a  smile,  by  comparing  the  loved  one  to 
some  beautiful  creation  of  the  painter's  fancy,  and  last, 
though  not  least,  bright-eyed  beauty  comes  with  her 
serene  smile, — for  the  artist  is  a  bachelor ! 

Among  the  number  who  visit  the  shrine  of  genius, 
there  is  one  that  most  attracts  the  attention  of  the  great 
artist.  This  pensive,  pale-faced  creature  comes  at  early 
morn  and  sits  till  dewy  eve,  and  then  only  goes  when  he 
is  told  the  gallery  must  be  closed  for  the  night.  This  is 
an  artist  too,  with  all  the  fire  of  aspiration  burning 
deep  into  his  soul;  but  he  is  a  poverty-bound  man,  he 
cannot  get  away  to  foreign  parts,  and  must  struggle  as 
best  he  can  to  obtain  the  mistress  of  his  heart, — Fame. 
Insensible  to  all  the  stir  of  life  that  flutters  round  him, 
he  is  intent  only  on  dyeing  into  his  soul  those  magic 
tints,  those  rich  colorings, — fastening  to  his  brain  those 
faultless  attitudes  with  which  this  monarch  of  the  pencil 
has  invested  his  immortal  conceptions.  From  an  unob- 
served position,  Allston  closely  scans  the  workings  of  that 
expressive  face, — he  sees  those  thoughts,  and  a  triumph 
for  him  is  written  on  every  flash  and  beam  of  the  young 
man's  eye.  The  master-artist  well  understands  the  de- 
votion with  which  the  student  gloats  upon  that  little 
inch  of  canvas,  passed  unobserved  by  the  ordinary  spec- 
tator;  he  can  estimate  the  cost  of  brain  bestowed  upon  it, 
— it  is  a  gem,  and  he  lingers  before  it  until  every  shade 

25* 


294  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

of  its  magic  tints  is  stamped  into  memory,  never  to  be 
erased. 

This  poor  pale-faced  creature,  with  his  threadbare  coat, 
little  thought  of  the  interest  he  was  exciting  in  the  mind 
of  the  master-painter,  and  that  he  was  even  now  pinning 
him  upon  his  sheet.  Seizing  a  favorable  opportunity  when 
the  student  was  most  absorbed,  Allston  sketched  him  in 
such  perfect  nature  that  you  could  but  believe  the  man  was 
framed.  The  portrait  spoke  all  the  restless  fire  of  hope 
deferred  that  flickered  in  his  eye  ;  the  deep-drawn  breath, 
as  if  it  were  a  never-ending  sigh  ;  the  longing  agony  that 
burned  like  fever  on  his  brow ;  the  parted  lips,  the  nostrils 
spread  ;  in  fact,  the  very  fingers  said,  "  How  can  we  clutch 
it, — how  V9  This  portrait,  placed  in  the  most  conspicuous 
part  of  the  gallery,  held  its  constant  crowd.  Every  one 
that  entered  recognized  the  perfect  resemblance  to  the  ever- 
present,  ever-absorbed  original.  One  clay  when  the  gallery 
was  crowded  to  repletion,  Allston  announced  his  intention 
of  selling  a  portrait  by  lottery,  so  that  all  might  have  a 
chance  of  possessing  it.  The  price  he  fixed  at  five  thou- 
sand dollars,  the  money,  he  said,  to  be  applied  to  a  chari- 
table object  Of  course  chances  were  taken  faster  than 
names  could  be  recorded.  Every  one  present,  except  the 
object  of  it,  understood  the  well-timed  benevolence,  and  the 
look  of  agony  that  was  upon  his  young  face,  when  he  turned 
away  unable  to  take  a  chance,  was  painful  to  behold. 

"  Will  you  not  take  a  chance  ?"  asked  Allston. 

"  I  am  not  able,"  replied  the  student,  coloring  deeply. 

"  Then  I  will  make  you  a  present  of  ten,"  said  Allston. 

The  youth  opened  his  great  brown  eyes  upon  the  artist 
as  though  looking  up  to  God. 

Ten  chances  were  placed  to  his  credit,  one  of  which  bore 
the  prize,  and  thus,  without  ever  suspecting  the  fact,  he 
won  himself,  and  received  the  portrait  and  the  five  thousand 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  295 

dollars.  He  was  now  almost  as  great  an  object  of  interest 
as  Allston  himself,  who,  to  complete  the  magnanimous  job, 
took  the  student  for  his  pupil.  The  young  man's  fortune 
was  made. 

Matilda  Douglas  is  in  New  York,  and,  by  the  papers, 
knows  all  that  is  passing  in  the  studio-gallery  of  the  artist. 
Does  she  come  to  swell  the  tide  of  adulation,  to  renew  her 
acquaintance,  to  claim  the  privilege  of  calling  the  great 
man  friend  ?     She  comes  not,  — and  why  ? 


CHAPTER    LXI. 

DOST   THOU   REMEMBER? 

"  When  shall  we  come  to  that  delightful  day 

When  each  can  say  to  each,  'Dost  thou  remember  ?' 
Let  us  fill  urns  with  rose-leaves  in  our  May, 
And  hive  the  thrifty  sweetness  for  December." 

Among  the  most  admired  of  Allston's  paintings  was  one 
which,  by  a  strange  coincidence,  he  called  "  The  Rescue.111 
This  painting  told  the  story  of  a  young  girl  in  danger  of 
being  drowned  ;  a  boy  was  battling  with  the  flood  and 
bearing  her  from  the  water.  In  the  background  was  seen 
the  old  school-house,  from  which  issued  the  children,  open- 
mouthed,  eager  for  the  fun  of  catching  and  conveying  the 
fugitive  back  to  punishment.  Rather  than  be  captured, 
the  girl  trusts  the  treacherous  semblance  of  a  bridge  ;  the 
stick,  rotten  at  heart,  like  many  a  seeming  friend  who, 
when  the  moment  of  trial  comes,  proves  false,  parts  beneath 
her  feet,  and  she  is  precipitated  into  the  boiling  flood. 
The  fragments  of  the  broken  stick  lay  in  the  water  so 


926  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

naturally  that  one  every  moment  expects  to  see  them  float 
along ;  and  so  perfect  were  the  illusions  of  the  painting 
that  a  sensitive  lady  rushed  forward  to  wring  the  water 
from  the  girl's  dripping  hair.  And  the  men  (generous  fel- 
lows!), regardless  of  patent-leather  and  gaiters  of  the  softest 
texture,  ventured  to  the  very  verge  of  the  stream  to  give  a 
helping  hand  to  the  noble  boy  that  contended  with  the 
foaming  current  and  intrepidly  bore  his  burden  to  the  shore. 
The  effect  of  a  first  view  of  this  picture  upon  individuals 
was  as  various  as  their  temperaments.  Some  clapped  their 
hands,  some  sank  upon  their  knees,  some  melted  into  tears, 
others  stood  in  speechless,  almost  breathless,  silence,  spell- 
bound to  the  spot.  A  crowd  was  constantly  gathered 
round  this  master-piece  of  the  artist,  great  in  all  his  works, 
but  greatest  far  in  this.  Upon  the  countenance  of  the 
heroic  boy  was  written  so  strongly  the  expression  "  I'll 
succeed  or  die,"  that  spectators,  by  some  mysterious  link- 
ing of  the  soul  with  truth,  involuntarily  turned  and  looked 
upon  the  artist,  as  if  to  say,  "  That  boy  is  the  prototype  of 
yourself." 

By  a  strange  coincidence,  we  said,  this  picture  was  called 
The  Rescue.  A  poem,  bearing  the  same  title,  was  then 
being  republished,  and  was  again  the  talk  of  literary  cir- 
cles. The  poem  appeared  to  be  the  key  to  the  painting, 
and  the  painting  but  the  realization  of  the  poem.  How 
could  such  a  coincidence  occur  ?  A  pen-painter  in  America 
writes  a  poem,  and  an  artist  in  Italy,  without  having  read 
one  line  of  it,  personates  every  prominent  character,  and 
lends  his  energies  to  the  work  intended  to  be  his  master- 
piece. When  separated,  the  poem  and  painting  seemed 
fragments,  when  together,  a  perfect  whole ;  and  yet  they 
had  been  constructed  with  oceans  rolling  between. 

The  poem  was  shown  to  Allston ;  instantly  he  felt  who 
was  the  author.     There  are  some  things  we  need  not  be 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  297 

told  :  we  feel  them.  Said  Allston  to  a  friend,  "  I  must  find 
the  writer  of  this  poem,  for  I  believe  it  has  been  written 
by  a  woman,  and  if  so,  she  is  the  original  of  my  drowning 
girl." 

Replied  the  friend,  "  The  poem  was  written  by  a  woman, 
and  one  well  known  to  the  literary  world  ;  but  that  she 
was  a  friend  of  yours  I  had  no  idea." 

The  artist  was  soon  a  regular  visitor  at  the  residence  of 
Miss  Douglas.  Said  he  on  one  occasion,  "  Mattie,  how  is 
it  that  you  have  never  visited  my  gallery,  when  my  greatest 
effort  was  made  in  commemoration  of  our  first  acquaint- 


ance 


?« 


She  replied,  "  That  painting  was  the  reason  I  never 
came.  I  knew  I  could  not  view  it  unmoved,  and  I  did  not 
wish  to  make  an  expose  of  realities  which  perhaps  you 
preferred  should  be  regarded  as  simply  the  offspring  of  a 
teeming  fancy." 

"I  have  no  objection  to  the  truth  being  known,"  he 
said  ;  "  although  I  might  be  censured  for  presenting  myself 
to  the  public  as  the  hero  of  a  chivalrous  performance,  yet 
my  object  in  painting  that  picture  was  not  self-laudation. 
Thoughts  of  you,  Mattie,  have  haunted  me  all  my  life  of 
absence.  I  loved  you  because  you  loved  my  mother ; 
you  seemed  the  only  person  except  myself  that  appre- 
ciated my  noble  mother  as  she  deserved  to  be  appreciated. 
True,  she  was  a  favorite  with  all  who  knew  her,  but  my 
love  asked  for  her  and  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing 
short  of  adoration.  You  participated  with  me  in  my  deep 
devotion  ;  hence  you  seemed  a  part  of  myself,  like  a  sister 
at  first, — and  oh,  how  often  I  have  wished  you  by  my  side 
that  we  might  speak  together  of  that  dear  mother!  But 
to  return  to  the  subject  of  the  picture,"  he  continued  ; 
11  you  know  I  took  your  likeness,  before  I  left  home,  with 
the  intention  of  painting  it  anew  when  I  improved  in  the 


298  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

art,  and,  finally,  I  determined  to  paint  you  in  such  con- 
nection that  no  degraded  lodgment  should  be  the  recepta- 
cle of  that  which  represented  you.  I  intended  you  to 
grace  the  scene  where  taste  and  refinement  dwell,  where 
the  smile  of  intelligent  beauty  would  be  lavished  upon 
you,  where  chivalry  would  bend  upon  you  his  compre- 
hensive gaze  and  feel  his  pulses  thrill.  All  of  artistic 
power  that  I  possessed  I  threw  into  that  painting,  Mattie, 
but  my  motive  was  not  a  selfish  one ;  and  now,  as  I  look 
back  upon  the  past,  I  am  astonished  that  I  could  permit 
so  many  years  to  roll  by  and  seek  no  communication  with 
one  of  whom  I  so  often  thought,  whom  I  esteemed  so 
much.  But  my  one  idea  was  to  become  a  painter,  and 
upon  that  single  throw  I  staked  my  life.  I  have  won, 
thank  God,  and  now  I  feel  like  one  just  aroused  from  a 
trance,  just  returned  from  an  ideal  world  back  to  the  real- 
ities of  a  life  that,  by  my  rapt  seclusion,  I  had  wellnigh 
ignored." 

Finally  a  visit  to  the  picture-gallery  was  arranged. 
Mattie  was  to  come  when  no  strangers  would  be  there, 
early  in  the  morning,  "  ere  the  tide  of  fashion  rolled  its 
careless  car  to  pleasure  and  to  play."  The  appointed 
morning  found  the  artist  at  his  gallery  much  sooner  than 
usual,  waiting  to  receive  his  expected  visitor.  He  strode 
impatiently  up  and  down  the  hall,  as  if  something  of 
uncommon  weight  pressed  upon  his  spirits  and  made 
him  restless  and  uneasy.  A  carriage  stopped  before  the 
door,  he  sprang  down  the  stairs  with  a  single  bound 
and  quickly  returned  bearing  a  lady  upon  his  arm. 
Together  they  stood  before  the  renowned  painting,  "  The 
Rescue." 

The  remembrance  of  what  Mattie  had  suffered  and 
enjoyed,  since  the  occurrence  here  so  strikingly  por- 
trayed, rushed  upon  her  heart  with  a  flood  of   mingled 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  299 

memories  of  joys  and  sorrows.  Bursting  into  tears,  she 
sank  upon  her  knees  before  the  picture.  The  artist 
kneeled  beside  her,  and,  passing  his  arm  around  her, 
pressed  her  to  his  bosom,  murmuring  in  her  ear,  "  My 
own  by  right  of  rescue  J" 


CHAPTER    LXIL 

"  Titles  of  honor  add  not  to  his  worth 
Who  is  an  honor  to  his  title." 

A  princely-hearted,  public-spirited  Grinnell,  of  New 
York,  gives  a  reception  to  the  great  modern  painter.  All 
brother  artists,  all  the  literati  of  the  city,  are  invited  to 
meet  and  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  Titian  of  America. 
This  will  be  no  ordinary  occasion.  Such  a  congress  of 
great  spirits  the  world  seldom  witnesses.  Mattie  Douglas 
is  a  celebrity  now,  and  she  too  will  be  there.  Professor 
AVaverly  has  come  opportunely  to  New  York  on  business; 
he  is  well  known  to  brothers  of  the  quill,  who  are  happy 
to  obtain  for  him  a  card  of  admission  to  this  unique  gath- 
ering. What  a  strange  meeting,  after  so  many  years  of 
separation,  will  take  place  to-night  1 

Said  Mrs.  Grinnell  to  the  ladies  in  the  dressing-room, 
'*  Now,  girls,  I  shall  expect  rare  conquests  here  to-night, 
or  you  are  not  good  diplomatists.  Allston  is  a  bachelor, 
remember,  and  there  will  be  lots  of  bachelors  beside ;  and 
then,  there  will  be  that  handsome  and  intelligent  million- 
aire widower  from  Maryland,  Professor  Waverly, — a  de- 
cided catch  !  He  is  worth  a  couple  of  millions  or  more, 
and  has  but  one  child,  a  sweet  little  girl,  the  image  of 


300  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

himself.  Now,  if  you  girls  let  him  slip  through  your 
fingers  to-night,  I  shall  declare  you  deserve  to  be  old 
maids.  Mr.  Willis  introduced  him  a  few  evenings  since, 
when  he  took  a  sociable  tea  with  us,  and  asked,  in  a  very 
pointed  manner,  if  Miss  Douglas,  the  literary  favorite  of 
the  day,  would  be  here  to-night.  It  seems  they  are  old 
friends,  but  have  not  met  for  years.  Miss  Douglas  is 
from  Maryland,  too,  and  I  want  one  of  the  New  York 
girls  to  carry  off  the  prize. 

"But,"  said  one  of  the  ladies,  laughing,  "what  is  the 
use  of  our  setting  caps  when  he  is  already  prepossessed,  as 
you  say  ?" 

"  The  prepossession  may  not  be  reciprocal,  though," 
replied  the  hostess.  "  It  is  reported  that  Allston  is  paying 
marked  attention  to  the  talented  authoress." 

"  Well,  she  can't  have  both ;  there  is  some  comfort  in 
that  thought,"  said  another  lady,  gayly.  And  thus  in 
merry  mood  they  passed  the  time  until  the  hour  of  recep- 
tion arrived. 

The  apartments  prepared  for  this  occasion  are  worthy 
of  remark.  When  the  chandeliers  were  lighted,  the  mov- 
able panels  thrown  back,  a  perfect  fairy-land  of  elegance 
and  beauty  was  disclosed  to  the  astonished  vision.  It 
were  impossible  in  a  pen-picture  to  do  justice  to  the 
scene,  so  we  abandon  the  attempt ;  and  yet,  for  all  the 
grandeur  here  displayed,  such  classic  taste  prevailed  that 
nothing  could  be  called  vulgar,  flaunting,  or  bizarre;  as 
much  of  nature  as  could  be  used  fir  decoration  was  ac- 
cepted. The  splendid  garden  and  conservatory  were  bril- 
liantly illuminated,  bands  of  music,  stationed  at  intervals, 
added  sweet  sounds  to  sweet  perfume  and  gave  enchant- 
ment to  the  scene.  The  extensive  and  well-filled  con- 
servatory was  not  only  lighted  but  furnished,  and  an  in- 
vitation extended  to  all  to  enter  and  help  themselves  to 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  301 

whatever  floral  gems  they  most  admired.  The  floor  was 
spread  with  rich  rugs,  lounges  and  tete-a-tetes  were  sta- 
tioned round  for  those  who  wished  to  linger  amid  the 
poetry  of  nature. 

The  throng  of  arrivals  was  over,  the  company  had  paid 
their  respects  to  the  host  and  hostess,  and  offered  their 
congratulations  to  the  distinguished  guest  of  the  evening, 
when,  with  bustle  and  importance,  Professor  Waverly  was 
announced.  After  presentation  to  the  artist,  the  professor 
stood  by  his  side  for  some  time,  conversing  with  him,  and 
ostensibly  paying  him  court ;  but  really  to  show  to  ad- 
vantage his  splendid  person,  and  to  receive  the  admiring 
gaze  of  the  assembled  crowd.  He  then  sought  Mrs.  Grin- 
nell,  and  requested  her  to  present  him  in  form  to  Miss 
Douglas.  Mattie  received  him  kindly,  cordially,  but  with 
the  same  ease  and  indifference,  to  all  appearance,  that  she 
would  have  received  a  perfect  stranger.  He  seated  him- 
self by  her  side,  and  never,  for  a  moment,  left  it.  They 
conversed  on  general  topics ;  he  congratulated  her  on  her 
literary  distinction,  and  attempted  to  flatter  her  by  assert- 
ing that  she  had  never  received  half  the  applause  which 
her  rare  genius  deserved. 

Mattie  assured  him  that  she  was  well  satisfied  with  her 
success.  "Fame  had  come  to  her  unsought  and  unex- 
pected," she  said  ;  "  and,  in  all  candor,  she  did  not  think 
her  efforts  merited  half  the  commendation  they  had  re- 
ceived." 

The  refreshment-rooms  were  now  thrown  open,  and  the 
guests  invited  to  enter.  Waverly  escorted  Mattie  to  the 
tables,  and  assiduously  attended  her  during  the  repast. 
After  the  pleasures  of  the  palate  were  sated,  the  guests 
dispersed  themselves  as  best  suited  the  fancy  of  each. 
Some  entered  the  brilliantly  lighted  garden,  some  ap- 
proached the  music,  and  the  dance  began ;  others  sought 

26 


302  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

the  rooms  appropriated  to  fashionable  games,  each  one 
seeking  the  kind  of  pleasure  that  pleased  him  most. 
Waverly,  with  Mattie  upon  his  arm,  bent  his  steps  to  the 
conservatory. 

11 1  wish,"  said  he,  "  to  cull  a  bouquet  for  a  lady  that  is 
here  to-night.  Will  you  assist  me,  Miss  Douglas,  in 
making  the  selection  ?" 

She  assented,  of  course,  and  they  entered  the  paradise 
of  flowers.  No  others  were  there, — they  were  alone. 
Seating  her  upon  a  lounge,  he  said,  "  And  now  direct  me 
while  I  cut  as  you  dictate." 

Mattie  designated  first  one  rosebud  and  then  another, 
this  pink  and  that  white  flower,  this  scarlet  and  that  green 
branch,  this  yellow  and  that  purple,  and  so  on  until  the 
task  was  nearly  completed.  "  And  now,"  she  said,  "  to 
crown  the  whole,  give  me  that  white  camellia." 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  "that  will  be  a  suitable  finish  to  the 
chapter  of  love  you  have  embodied  there,  and  that  remark 
brings  me  to  the  subject  on  which  I  wish  to  speak."  He 
seated  himself  beside  her,  she  resigned  the  flowers  to  him ; 
he  took  them,  and  then,  presenting  them  back  to  her, 
said,  "  They  were  intended  for  you,  Miss  Douglas,  and, 
with  the  flowers,  permit  me  to  offer  the  hand  that  holds 
them, — my  heart  is  already  yours ;  for  I  declare  to  you, 
upon  the  honor  of  a  gentleman,  that  you  are  the  only 
woman  I  have  ever  loved."  Mattie  did  not  accept  the 
flowers,  and  he  laid  them  in  her  lap,  continuing  to  talk  : 
"  The  proposal  I  now  make  would  have  been  made  when 
I  first  became  acquainted  with  you,  had  my  circumstances 
been  such  as  to  justify  the  step.  I  thought  money,  as  the 
procurer  of  worldly  comfort,  indispensable  to  happiness ; 
in  this  I  was  mistaken.  I  obtained  money  adequate  to 
my  largest  desire,  but  with  it  a  void  existed  in  my  heart 
which  neither  fame  nor  money  could  fill.      Had  I  my  life 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  303 

to  live  again,  I  would  marry  the  woman  of  my  choice, 
and  labor  for  her  support." 

Mattie  arose  from  her  seat,  pale,  almost  breathless, 
and  said,  in  a  low,  husky  voice, — 

"Professor  Waverly,  let  us  go  hence.'' 

"No,  no!"  he  exclaimed,  seizing  her  hand  and  reseat- 
ing her,  "you  must  not  leave  the  place  until  you  decide 
my  fate  ;  but  first  hear  me,  hear  all  I  have  to  say.  I  have 
a  little  bud  of  promise,  sweet  as  the  sweetest  and  purest 
flower  in  that  collection  [pointing  to  the  flowers  which 
now  lay  in  a  heap  on  the  floor],  and  to  no  woman  upon 
earth  would  I  confide  her  but  yourself.  She  is  an  heiress, 
too,  of  immense  wealth.  And  what  is  a  vain,  weak, 
wealthy  woman  but  a  prey  to  the  first  adventurer  that 
crosses  her  path  ?  Had  my  daughter  but  your  society  and 
guardianship  I  would  be  content,  even  should  I  be  taken 
from  the  world.  I  could  ask  for  her  no  better  counselor, 
no  truer  friend,  than  yourself.  Oh,  Miss  Douglas,  accept 
the  precious  charge  I  bring  you ;  the  salvation  of  an  im- 
mortal soul  may  rest  upon  your  decision  !" 

Mattie  again  attempted  to  rise.  Said  she,  "  Professor 
Waverly,  you  are  too  late;  I  cannot  listen  to  you  longer; 
it  were  dishonorable  in  me  to  do  so." 

He  pressed  her  hand  to  his  lips,  and,  flinging  himself 
upon  his  knees  before  her,  besought  her  not  to  dash  from 
his  heart  a  lifelong  hope,  the  hope  of  one  day  possessing 
her.  "  Remember,"  said  he  (his  meanness  was  always 
oozing  out),  "you  are  indebted  to  me  for  your  fame  and 
fortune !  It  was  I  who  introduced  you  to,  and  gave 
you  prestige  in,  the  literary  world.  I  have  been  the 
champion  whose  pen-weapon  was  wielded  for  you  with 
no  ordinary  strength.  Mine  has  been  the  '  Hidden  Hand' 
that  sustained  you,  for  I  have  never  lost  sight  of  you  for 
one  day  since  we  first  met,  but,  like  a  brother,  I  have 


304  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

watched  over  your  interests;  my  eye  has  followed  you 
continually  for  good,  and  surely  for  this  I  might  ask  a 
little  kindness  in  return.  Be  a  mother,  then,  to  my  mother- 
less child ;  if  you  cannot  love  me,  love  her,  and  I  am  con- 
tent." 

Mattie  found  it  was  necessary  to  be  explicit.  Seating 
herself  again  upon  the  lounge,  she  requested  the  man 
kneeling  before  her  to  be  seated  also,  and  then  said, — 
11 1  admit,  Professor  Waverly,  that  I  owe  you  a  debt  of 
gratitude,  for  I  have  always  suspected  that  to  your 
management  of  my  humble  efforts  I  was  indebted  for  the 
favorable  manner  in  which  they  were  received  by  the 
public,  and  that  your  able  pen  encouraged  me  to  perse- 
vere, and  sustained,  applauded,  and  rewarded  me  when  I 
did  so  ;  but,  Professor  Waverly,  your  request  has  come  too 
late  !  It  is  out  of  my  power  now  to  grant  you  the  meed 
of  grateful  recompense  you  ask,  for  I  am  the  betrothed  of 
another,  and  of  one  to  whom  my  debt  of  gratitude  is  even 
greater  than  it  is  to  you,  for  he  saved  my  life !" 

"  What !"  he  exclaimed,  "  are  you  engaged  to  Allston  ?" 

"I  am." 

He  clasped  his  hands  upon  his  brow  as  though  a  bullet 
had  pierced  his  brain,  and  exclaimed,  "Great  Heaven, 
what  have  I  lost !  Genius  wedded  to  genius,  what  greater 
happiness  could  the  gods  bestow  ?" 

While  he  thus  sat  with  his  hands  over  his  eyes,  Mattie 
noiselessly  left  the  bower. 

The  professor  gained  the  house  by  a  private  passage, 
and,  hastily  writing  a  few  lines  to  the  hostess  excusing 
his  abrupt  departure,  immediately  left. 

Mrs.  Grinnell  sought  Mattie,  and  laughingly  accused 
her  of  banishing  the  professor.  Said  she,  "When  last 
seen  he  was  in  your  company,  Miss  Douglas.  I  shall  hold 
you  responsible  for  his  safety." 


OR   MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  305 

Allston,  too,  seemed  to  think  the  affair  a  curious  one, 
and  bantered  her  about  looking  so  pale  and  nervous  by 
inquiring,  "If  she  had  not  killed  the  professor  and  buried 
him  among  the  flowers?" 

She  murmured  in  his  ear,  "  I  will  explain  all  when  I 
have  an  opportunity.  Please  say  no  more  on  the  subject 
now." 

The  amusements  and  festivities  of  the  occasion  pro- 
gressed until  gray  morning  streaked  the  east,  and  then 
the  guests  reluctantly  separated  to  seek  their  chambers 
and  repose.  Mattie,  too,  sought  her  chamber,  but  found 
no  repose.  Chords  in  her  heart  that  had  lain  paralyzed 
for  years  again  quivered  with  an  emotion  that  seemed  to 
indicate  returning  life.  Oh,  reader,  beware  how  you 
touch  those  notes,  whose  tones  must  forever  linger  on  the 
strings !  Neither  were  Mattie's  the  only  sleepless  eyes 
that  morning.  Waverly  tossed  upon  his  pillow  quite  as 
restlessly  as  Mattie  did  upon  hers,  his  brain  actively 
working,  scheming,  scheming,  scheming. 

"  If  it  be  in  the  power  of  the  strong  will  to  perform  what 
the  strong  mind  dictates,  the  prize  shall  yet  be  mine  !" 
This  was  his  resolve,  and  ere  he  left  his  couch  his  plan 
of  operation  was  completed. 


2G* 


306  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 


CHAPTER    LXIII. 

DUPLICITY. 

"  I,  under  fair  pretense  of  friendly  ends, 
And  well-placed  words  of  glossy  courtesy, 
Bated  with  reason  not  unplausible, 
Wind  me  into  the  easy-hearted  man 
And  hug  him  into  snares." 

From  the  night  of  the  reception  given  to  the  artist, 
Waverly  paid  him  the  most  assiduous  attentions,  culti- 
vated his  acquaintance  most  industriously,  was  present  at 
the  gallery  every  day,  frequently  at  his  lodgings,  accom- 
panied him  on  his  visit  to  Mattie,  and,  by  this  last  means, 
gained  familiar  entrance  to  her  house  and  presence.  And 
then,  his  manner  was  so  genial  to  Allston,  so  humble  to 
Mattie  ;  no  indication  of  anger  or  pique,  jealousy  or  ill 
feeling,  gave  the  slightest  token  that  a  deep  and  well-con- 
certed scheme  for  the  possession  of  one  of  the  parties  and 
the  destruction  of  the  other  was  every  day  developing 
before  their  eyes.  On  one  occasion  Allston  remarked  to 
Mattie,  "  "Waverly  is  a  clever  fellow,  but  I  cannot  divine 
his  motive  in  wishing  me  to  drink  so  freely  ;  he  would  buy 
wine  by  the  hogshead,  I  believe,  if  I  would  drink  it." 

"  Oh,  William,  I  hope  you  do  not  gratify  him  ?"  she 
exclaimed. 

"  Certainly  not,  Mattie.  You  need  not  look  so  alarmed  ; 
I  am  not  such  a  novice  as  to  be  seduced  in  that  way;  but 
judging  from  Wavcrly's  intercourse  with  myself,  I  should 
pronounce  him  an  improper  person  for  the  companionship 
of  young  men." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  30? 

Said  Mattie,  "William,  I  am  afraid  Waverly  has  some 
motive  in  his  conduct  in  this  respect ;  indeed,  under  the 
circumstances,  his  excessive  kindness  to  you  is  unnatural 
and  suspicious.  I  have,  and  for  good  reasons,  a  strong 
distrust  of  Waverly's  honor.  I  believe  him  to  be  unprin- 
cipled." 

Allston  laughed.  "You  ladies,"  he  said,  "have  so 
many  fears  that  really  I  think  you  all  require  protection. 
We  men  never  think  of  half  the  apprehensions  which  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  your  more  sensitive  nerves." 

Mattie  remained  intensely  silent;  her  thoughts  were 
troubled.  Why  is  it  that  women  instinctively  feel  danger 
near,  while  men  laugh  to  scorn  these  delicate  and  intan- 
gible premonitions  ? 

Allston  and  Waverly  were  both  expert  chess  players ; 
both  were  fond  of  the  game,  but  they  played  so  equally 
well  that  it  was  tedious  work  when  they  played  together. 

Said  Waverly  to  Allston,  "Let  us  stake  something  of 
real  value,  to  make  the  game  interesting ;  it  is  such  dull 
work  without  an  incentive." 

"Agreed,"  replied  the  painter,  thinking  one  of  his 
pictures  against  a  certain  sum  of  money  would  be  the 
proposal. 

Said  Waverly,  with  a  significant  look,  "  I  will  stake  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  against  Matilda  Douglas." 

Allston's  Southern  blood  blazed  hot  into  his  expressive 
face ;  but,  trying  to  conceal  his  anger,  he  said,  as  politely  as 
his  feelings  would  permit,  "  Waverly,  you  jest,  or  I  would 
resent  what  you  propose  as  an  unpardonable  insult." 

"I  am  not  jesting,  my  dear  fellow,"  replied  Waverly, 
with  the  most  perfect  sang-froid.  "  Come,  take  a  common- 
sense  view  of  the  matter  ;  you  have  impaired  your  fortune 
by  a  foreign  residence  these  many  years,  and  all  your 
property,  except  the  home-farm,  is  gone.     Now,  here  is  a 


308  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

chance  for  you  to  recover  it, — a  fortune  awaiting  your  ac- 
ceptance. Resign  the  field  to  me, — you  kuow  what  I 
mean, — and  I  will  lay  half  a  million  at  your  feet." 

Allston  foamed  with  rage.  Said  he,  "  Waverly,  what 
kind  of  a  scoundrel  do  you  take  me  for  that  you  ask  me  to 
sell  the  woman  whom  I  have  promised  to  marry,  whom  I 
have  asked  to  marry  me?" 

"  If  she  loved  you,"  said  Waverly,  "  I  would  not  ask  it. 
But  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  she  loves  me,  and  that 
alters  the  case,  you  know." 

"  It  is  false  !"  cried  Allston,  fiercely.  "  I  believe  what 
you  say  is  most  infamously  false,  and  you  are  a  conceited, 
contemptible  fellow  to  make  such  an  assertion." 

A  gleam  of  deep  and  sinister  meaning  passed  over 
Waverly's  face  and  shone  in  his  eye  ;  it  said,  "  Come  on, 
my  boy,  I  am  ready  for  you  in  any  manner  you  please ;" 
but  his  lips  said  calmly,  almost  sweetly,  "  Why,  Allston, 
my  poor,  deluded  fellow,  ask  Mattie  herself ;  she  cannot, 
and  I  believe  she  will  not,  deny  the  fact." 

Allston  snatched  up  his  hat  and  rushed  from  the  house, 
determined  to  know  the  worst  at  once.  "  If  she  loves 
Waverly,  then  my  life  is  cursed,"  he  said,  in  his  heat  of 
blood;  and  on  his  way  to  Mattie's  house  he  called  at 
his  hotel  and  got  his  pistol,  and,  as  he  clutched  the  life- 
destroyer,  he  muttered  between  his  clinched  teeth,  "  If 
she  says  she  loves  another  than  the  man  she  has  promised 
to  marry,  I'll  blow  out  my  brains  and  die  at  her  feet." 
As  the  unhappy  man  rushed  along  the  street,  blind  with 
rage  and  jealousy,  he  stumbled  against  everybody  he  met. 
Presently  a  strong,  manly  arm  encircled  him  and  held  him 
fast.     Said  a  well-known  voice, — 

"Allston,  where  under  heaven  are  you  going  in  such 
haste,  with  a  pistol  in  your  hand  ?  Why,  man,  the  police 
will  arrest  you  for  carrying  weapons  openly !" 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  309 

"  I  will  put  it  to  my  heart,  then,  and  save  them  the 
trouble  of  an  arrest,"  said  he,  scornfully  and  bitterly. 

"What!"  exclaimed  the  friend,  "shall  your  high  sun 
go  down  in  blood  ?  Shall  your  proud  fame  plunge  from 
its  zenith  to  the  darkest  abyss  ?  Oh,  no,  no,  that  must 
not  be  !  You  are  not  yourself  just  now,  so  you  must 
permit  me  to  decide  for  you.  And  come,  Allston,  in  all 
candor,  trust  me  with  your  trouble,  tell  me  what  is  the 
cause  of  this  fury.  If  it  be  necessary  I  will  die  for  you, 
but  you  must  not  die  yet." 

Allston  was  touched,  his  feelings  softened,  he  resigned 
the  pistol  to  his  friend,  and,  placing  his  arm  in  his,  said, 
"  Lead  where  you  will,  Fred,  I  will  tell  you  all." 

The  friend  led  the  excited  lover  to  his  lodging.  Said  he, 
"Allston,  you  were  going  in  the  direction  of  Miss  Doug- 
las's house  when  I  met  you.  Is  there  not  a  woman  at  the 
bottom  of  this  affair  ?  Dear  help  us  poor  fellows,  these 
women  do  lead  us  such  a  dance  !"  When  quietly  seated 
in  Fred's  chamber,  Allston  related  to  him  all  that  had 
taken  place  between  himself  and  Waverly. 

"And  is  that  all  ?"  exclaimed  Fred,  with  brightening  face 
and  voice.  "  Why,  man,  I  am  rejoiced  there  is  no  harm 
done  after  all  ;  for  rest  assured  there  is  not  one  word  of 
truth  in  the  assertion  of  that  conceited  fop.  If  she  loves 
him,  why  don't  she  marry  him  ?  She  refuses  him,  evi- 
dently, or  why  would  he  wish  you  to  resign  the  field  to 
him  ;  why  ask  you  to  sell  your  chance  ?  The  contempti- 
ble sneak  1  Allston,  if  you  wish  it  I  will  fight  him,  but  I 
shall  consider  the  pistol  disgraced  that  shoots  such  a 
fellow,"  said  Fred,  laughing.  "But  seriously,  Bill,  be 
guided  by  me  in  this  matter,  and  I  will  direct  your  course. 
Join  myself  and  a  party  of  sportsmen  who  are  going  up 
the  Hudson.  Remain  away  from  the  city  for  some  time, 
write  to  Miss  Douglas  excusing  your  absence,  and  desig- 


310  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

nate  the   point   at  which    you   can   receive   her  letters. 
Nothing  like  absence  and  letters  to  bring  out  the  facts." 

Allston  was  buried  in  such  profound  and  painful  thought 
that  he  did  not  even  hear  what  Fred  was  saying.  At  last 
he  spoke  : 

11 1  remember  now  to  have  heard  Mattie's  opinion  of 
Waveiiy,  and  she  has  cautioned  me  with  regard  to  him, 
saying  she  thought  him  unprincipled.  Would  she  thus 
speak  of  the  man  she  loved  ?  Mattie  is  a  woman  of  high- 
toned  character.  She  would  not  say  one  thing  and  think 
another.  I  am  really  ashamed  of  my  precipitancy,  Fred, 
and  am  truly  glad  that  I  did  not  see  Mattie  while  in  that 
excited  condition  ;  she  must  have  despised  me." 

"Well,  I  have  brought  you  safely  this  far,"  said  Fred; 
"  now  trust  me  for  the  rest  of  the  journey,  and  let  us  start 
to-morrow  on  this  hunting  expedition.  You  know  we  are 
going  hunting  for  facts  now  as  well  as  beasts.  I  warrant 
you  we  shall  find  both." 

Mattie  received  a  note  from  her  affianced  informing  her 
of  his  departure  from  the  city  and  requesting  her  to  write 
to  him  at  a  certain  point  named.  She  was  somewhat  sur- 
prised at  his  abrupt  departure  without  one  word  of  adieu, 
but  never  for  a  moment  dreamed  of  the  whirlwind  that  had 
wellnigh  swept  her  from  her  moorings.  A  few  days 
after,  as  she  was  riding  down  town  in  a  street-car,  the 
car  stopped  opposite  a  pistol-gallery,  and  a  party  of  young 
men  from  the  gallery  entered  the  car. 

Said  one  to  his  friends,  "Is  not  that  Waverly  a  splendid 
shot?     Can't  he  wing  the  pigeon  beautifully?" 

Said  the  friend,  "  There  is  some  other  kind  of  pigeon 
he  intends  to  wing  ;  I  should  not  like  to  be  in  that  fellow's 
way,  for  as  he  surveyed  his  shot  to-day,  right  through  the 
heart  of  the  figure,  he  muttered,  '  Yes,  I'll  do  it,  if  it  costs 
me  a  million  \9n 


OR  MATILDA    DOUGLAS.  311 

The  cold  sweat  burst  upon  Mattie's  brow  as  this  con- 
versation fell  upon  her  ear.  She  hastened  home  and  tried 
by  every  means  in  her  power  to  shake  from  her  heart  the 
uneasy  feeling.  "I  see  no  way,"  she  said,  "to  shield 
AUston  from  the  malicious  and  covert  designs  of  this  un- 
principled wretch  but  hasten  our  marriage ;  and,  how- 
ever indelicate  it  may  appear  in  me  to  do  so,  I  will, 
rather  than  he  shall  fall  a  victim  to  this  assassin  at  heart. 
His  intention  is  evident  to  my  mind,  and  this  is  the  reali- 
zation of  my  intangible  foreboding  ;  he  intends  to  draw  the 
unsuspecting  man  into  a  quarrel,  challenge,  and  shoot 
him." 

Mattie  was  as  prompt  in  action  as  just  in  drawing  an 
inference,  and  she  instantly  wrote  to  AUston,  urging  his 
return.  She  told  him  "she  was  unhappy  in  his  absence, 
and,  besides,  although  he  might  feel  shocked  at  her  want 
of  delicacy  in  making  such  a  proposition,  yet  for  good 
reasons,  which  she  would  explain  to  him  afterwards,  she 
wished  their  marriage  to  take  place  immediately." 

After  Mattie  had  written  this,  to  her  dignified  idea, 
rather  humiliating  letter,  she  leaned  her  head  upon  it  and 
wept;  then  raising  her  eyes  to  heaven,  she  exclaimed, 
"  Here  witness,  spirit  of  his  sainted  mother,  that  the 
promise  I  made  to  you  long  years  ago  is  now  sacredly 
kept.  When  you  fed  my  famishing  father  I  promised 
that  your  kindness  should  be  returned  to  you  or  yours. 
The  deed  is  done.  I  have  interposed  myself  between  him 
and  the  murderer's  bullet." 

"  I  understand  it  all,"  said  AUston,  as  he  triumphantly 
showed  Mattie's  letter  to  Fred.  "Waverly  is  impor- 
tuning her  with  his  attentions ;  she  wishes  to  get  rid  of 
him.  I  approve  of  her  decision,  and  will  immediately 
place  her  beyond  his  reach." 

Waverly  called  upon  Mattie  in  Allston's  absence,  and 


312  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

was  refused  admission.  He  wrote  to  her,  his  letters  were 
returned  unopened.  She  knew  nothing  of  the  game  of 
chess  at  which  he  wished  her  staked  and  lost,  as  they  say 
a  Russian  will  sometimes  gamble  away  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren; but  the  picture  of  that  pistol-gallery,  with  its  figure 
shot  through  the  heart,  was  constantly  before  her  mind's 
eye. 

Allston  came  quickly  in  answer  to  the  summons.  Mattie 
fell  upon  his  neck  and  wept.  "  I  am  so  happy,"  she  said, 
"to  see  you  return  in  safety." 

"  From  what  source  did  you  apprehend  danger  to  me, 
Mattie  ?"  he  inquired. 

"  That  is  a  secret  at  present,"  she  said ;  "  but  I  will  tell 
you  after  we  are  married."     „ 

"  I  have  a  secret  to  tell  you  also,"  he  said,  laughing ; 
"  and,  when  on  this  day  week  I  call  you  mine  before  the 
world,  no  happier  man  that  world  can  boast." 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  313 


CHAPTER    LXIV. 

FAREWELL  ! 

"And  like  some  low  and  mournful  spell, 
To  whisper  but  one  word — Farewell I" 

And  now  there  is  another  Mrs.  Allston  to  sit  at  the 
head  of  the  family  board  on  the  old  plantation,  to  ride  in 
the  family  carriage  that  has  never  been  used  since  the 
death  of  the  noble  woman  whose  name  another  noble 
woman  bears, — a  fit  successor  to  the  first.  Mattie  owns 
the  ground  which  contains  her  mother's  grave.  No  plow- 
share will  ever  pass  over  that  spot.  Mr.  Douglas  has  been 
removed  and  buried  by  the  side  of  his  wife.  "  In  death 
they  shall  not  be  divided,"  she  said;  and  so  Miss  Mary 
Fluru's  prediction  will  be  verified, — the  Douglas  family 
will  all  be  buried  in  the  Allston  family  graveyard. 

A  costly  shaft,  beautiful  as  the  one  which  covers  Mrs. 
Allston,  has  been  placed  upon  the  grave  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Douglas.  Mattie  often  visits  the  sacred  inclosure, 
and  kneeling  upon  the  luxuriant  grass,  gives  thanks  to 
God  for  the  great  deliverance  he  wrought  for  her  since  the 
day  on  which  she  fainted  in  that  place  and  lay  upon  her 
mother's  tomb  as  insensible  as  the  clay  beneath  or  the 
marble  above. 

Allston  proposes  again  to  visit  foreign  lands,  and  his 
wife  is  happy  to  be  the  companion  of  his  rambles.  Now 
that  the  child  of  want  has  wealth  and  fame ;  now  that  he 
who  once  scorned  her  alliance  lays  his  name  and  fortune 

2T 


314  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND, 

at  her  feet;  now  that  the  husband,  child,  and  fortune  of 
her  scornful  rival  is  presented  for  her  acceptance ;  now 
that  the  sword  of  the  chivalric  would  leap  from  the  scab- 
bard in  defense  of  one  so  courted  and  so  renowned ;  now 
that  she  wants  nothing  for  which  a  reasonable  heart  could 
ask,  she  will  devote  herself  and  all  her  subsequent  life  to 
one  who  had  compassion  on  her  helplessness,  and  protected 
her  when  no  other  protection  was  near.  She  says  the 
"kindness  sowed  for  me,  and  greater  yet  for  mine,  met  not 
unthankful  ground,  but  yielded  him  his  own  with  fair  in- 
crease, and  I  still  glory  in  it."  We  say  Heaven's  blessing 
be  upon  her  in  her  noble  resolve,  may  she  be  as  happy  as 
she  deserves  to  be !  And  Mattie  is  happy  ;  but  the  brightest 
link  in  memory's  chain  is  her  father,  and  the  thought  of 
what  she  suffered  and  endured  for  him  spreads  an  ever- 
present  ray  of  sunshine  upon  her  heart.  May  her  setting 
sun  be  gilded  into  double  brightness  by  reflection  from  that 
great  luminary  the  refulgence  of  whose  glory  fills  all 
heaven, — even  the  sun  of  righteousness  ! 

A  short  time  after  Mattie's  return  to  Maryland  a  message 
came  from  the  neighboring  depot  to  the  effect  that  two 
ladies  were  there  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  visit  her. 
Although  at  a  loss  to  conjecture  who  could  thus  unheralded 
and  unexpected  seek  her  out,  she  dispatched  the  carriage 
promptly.  Two  passengers  returned  in  it,  the  one  a 
smiling  matron,  the  other  a  young,  beautiful,  and  graceful 
girl. 

"  Well,  I  see  you  don't  know  me,  nor  Molly,  either," 
said  the  mother. 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  I  do  now,"  replied  Mattie. 

"  Molly  has  come,"  continued  the  mother,  "  to  bring  you 
a  wedding  present,  and  it  is  all  of  her  own  work."  Display- 
ing for  Mattie's  admiration  a  beautiful  blue  satin  pin- 
cushion embroidered  with  white,  and  slippers  for  herself 


OR  MATILDA   DOUGLAS.  315 

and  husband,  also  a  smoking-cap,  all  richly  and  elegantly 
wrought. 

The  young  artist,  anxious  to  escape  the  praise  bestowed 
upon  her  efforts,  glided  into  the  yard  to  examine  the  flowers 
wrought  by  the  hand  of  Nature.  The  mother's  eye  fol- 
lowed her  lovingly,  and  when  out  of  hearing,  said  the 
doting  parent,  "  Is  she  not  a  lovely  creature,  Mrs.  Allston  ? 
— and  it  is  all  your  fan  It,  you  did  it  all." 

Mattie,  smiling  at  the  blunder,  replied,  "  She  is  indeed  a 
charming  girl,  and  I  wish  I  had  committed  more  faults  of 
the  same  kind." 

The  reader  will  readily  recognize  in  Molly  the  babe  that 
was  in  its  mother's  arms  when  she  rented  the  rooms  to 
Mattie,  and  will  also  remember  the  promise  the  mother 
exacted  of  the  young  teacher  to  educate  her  little  girl,  and 
"  make  her  a  lady  with  sweet  manners  like  herself."  The 
promise  had  been  kept.  All  these  many  years  had  Mattie 
paid  for  the  education  of  this  child,  and  now  came  the 
harvest  of  the  seed  sown  in  faith  and  hope.  Like  a  gra- 
cious shower  had  been  Mattie's  life,  refreshing  and  bene- 
fiting all  that  came  within  its  influence. 

To  the  rest  of  our  companions,  by  the  way,  our  farewell 
is  soon  spoken.  Kind-hearted  Mrs.  Butterfield  still  takes 
delight  in  making  her  buttermilk,  and  glories  in  the  thought 
that  it  saved  Mrs.  Allston's  life.  Mrs.  Plowman  listens  to 
the  oft-told  story,  but  shakes  her  head  and  smiles  incredu- 
lously. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  stylish  Mrs.  Gilt  has  been  gathered 
to  a  grave  destitute  of  style,  and  Belinda  has  descended 
to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation.  Caroline  is  cheering 
on  her  young  physician  husband  with  the  assurance  that 
she  would  rather  do  justice  than  to  live  splendidly. 

The  genus  Snipe-Slytickle  can  always  be  found  where 
systems  of  education  are  supported  at  the  public  expense ; 


316  DOINGS  IN  MARYLAND. 

where  weak  men  are  easily  befooled  and  corrupt  ones  re- 
quire tools  for  their  unsightly  work, — which  tools  they 
intend  to  purchase  out  of  the  public  treasury. 

Mr.  McGilhooter  did  achieve  the  much-coveted  superin- 
tendency,  but  did  not  retain  it  as  long  as  it  took  him  to 
wriggle  himself  into  it.  Like  the  rectorship,  the  superin- 
tendence proved  a  seat  of  sand. 

Professor  Waverly  says  he  will  never  marry  again,  but 
devote  himself  to  the  education  of  his  daughter.  "  He  in- 
tends," he  says,  "to  make  her  a  Matilda  Douglas."  But, 
alas  !  such  beings  are  not  fashioned  by  the  hands  of  man. 
He  alone  makes  them  who  causes  one  mountain  to  tower 
above  its  fellow,  and  the  neglected  flower  to  bloom  sweetest 
of  all. 

And  now,  indulgent  reader,  to  you,  too,  we  must  say 
farewell. 

These  pages  were  written  to  wile  away  the  tedious 
hours  passed  at  the  bedside  of  an  invalid  parent ;  if  they 
have  amused  you  they  have  performed  a  double  duty,  for 
they  have  also  amused  me,  and  the  simple  moral  of  my 
simple  story  is  simply  this  : 

WORK   AND   PRAY. 


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the  Irish  women  who  live  in  our  midst  to 
friends  and  kindred  at  home." — Philada. 
Ledger. 


"These  interesting  tales  describe  Ire- 
land and  her  people  in  ancient  and  modern 
times  respectively.  '  Mona  the  Vestal' 
gives  an  account  of  the  religious,  intel- 
lec 


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some  illustrations  will  still  further  recom- 
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complain  of  it  as  wanting  in    incident.   |  Age. 

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which  appears  many  an  appeal  which 
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touching  in  parts.    Miss  Macgregor  has  | 

Only  a  GirL      A  Romance.     From  the   German 

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"  This  pleasantly  told  love  story  presents 
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"  He  has  written  us  this  thrilling  tale, 

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based  on  miscellaneous  facts,  which  ha 
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sure, and  can  say  for  it  that  which  we 
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PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &•   CO. 
Advice  to  a   Wife  on  the  Management  of  her  own 

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to  Pregnancy,  Labor  and  Suckling ;  with  an  Introductory  Chapter 
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doctor's  lore  is  given  in  the  style  of  plait: 
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Bulletin. 

"  Possesses  undoubted  value  for  those 
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nal. 


and  has  undergone  a  careful  revision  by 
Sir  Charles  Locock,  the  first  physician- 
accoucheur  to  Queen  Victoria." — N.Y 
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Advice   to  a  Mother  on   the  Management  of  her 

Children,  and  on  the  Treatment  on  the  moment  of  some  of  theii 

more  pressing  Illnesses  and  Accidents.   By  Pye  Henry  Chavasse, 

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The  new  edition  contains  many  new  notes, 

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Dictionary  of  Daily  Wants.     A  Cycloficedia  em- 

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channels,  into  one  arrangement  and  sys- 
tem, by  which  they  may  be  easily  foun_ 
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The  sale  of  nearly  100,000  copies  of  this 
work  affords  the  best  evidence  of  its  in- 
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The  "  Dictionary  of  Daily  Wants"  may 
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ence of  Botany.  It  has  brought  thou- 
sands of  useful  items,  scattered  in  dis- 
order through  an   unlimited    number  of 

Dictionary  of  Useful  Knozuledge.     A    Book    of 

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ttf  active  practice,  and  over  forty  years  of   | 


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Tricotrin.      The  Story  of  a  Waif  and  Stray.    By 

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Day  Book. 


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ments, expressed  in  a  concentrated,  com 
pact  style  which  cannot  fail  to  be  attractive, 
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household." — San  Francisco  Times. 


Granville   de  Vigne;    or,  Held  in   Bondage.     A 

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and  brilliancy   than   the  works  of  Miss  |  — Boston  Transcript. 

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what  exaggerated  portraiture  of  scenes  and 
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tain  a  wide  popularity,  especially  amov.g 


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tiful in  literature."  —  Albany  Evening 
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Under    Two  Flags.     A  Story  of  the  Household 

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of  Ouida.  It  is  enough  of  itself  to  estab- 
lish her  fame  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
and  graphic  writers  of  fiction  now  living." 
— Chicago  Journal  0/  Commerce. 


Ouida's  Novelettes.     First   Series,   Cecil  Castle- 

maine's  Gage.  Second  Series,  Randolph  Gordon.  Third  Series 
Beatrice  Boville.  Each  of  these  volumes  contains  a  selection  ot 
"Ouida's"  Popular  Tales  and  Stories.     i2mo.    Cloth,  each  $1.75- 


"  The  many  works  already  in  print  by 
this  versatile  authoress  have  established 
her  reputation  as  a  novelist,  and  these 
short  stanes  contrifMite  largely  to  the  stock 


of  pleasing  narratives  and  adventures  alivs 
to  the  memory  of  all  who  are  given  t» 
romance  and  fiction."— N.  Haven  Jour. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  <5r*   CO. 


The  Old  Mam'selle's  Secret.     After  the  German 

of  E.  Marlitt,  author  of  "Gold   Elsie,"  "Countess   Gisela,"  &c. 
By  Mrs,  A.  L.  Wister.     Sixth  edition.     i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.75. 


of  'The  Initials,'  the  dramatic  unity  0/ 
Reade,  and  the  graphic  power  of  Georgt 
Elliot." — Columbus  (0.)  Journal. 
"  Appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing stories  that  we  have  had  from  Europe 
for  many  a  day." — Boston  Traveler. 


"A  more  charming  story,  and  one  which, 
having  once  commenced,  it  seemed  more 
difficult  to  leave,  we  have  not  met  with  for 
many  a  day." — The  Round  Table. 

"Is  one  of  the  most  intense,  concentrated, 
compact  novels  of  the  day.  .  .  .  And  the 
•ork  has  the  minute  fidelity  of  the  author 

Gold  Elsie.     From  the  German  of  E.  Marlitt, 

author  of  the  "  Old  Mam'selle's  Secret,"  "  Countess  Gisela,"  &c 
By  Mrs.  A.  L.  Wister.    Fifth  edition.     i2mo.    Cloth,  #1.75. 


"  A  charming  story  charmingly  told." — 
Baltimore  Gazette. 


"A  charming  book.  It  absorbs  your 
ittention  from  the  title-page  to  the  end." — 
The  Home  Circle. 

\ 

Countess  Gisela.     From  the  German  of  E.  Mar- 

litt,  author  of  "The  Old  Mam'selle's  Secret,"  "Gold  Elsie," 
"Over  Yonder,"  &c.  By  Mrs.  A.  L.  Wister.  Third  Edition. 
i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.75. 


"  There  is  more  dramatic  power  in  this 
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"  It  is  a  story  that  arouses  the  interest 


of  the  reader  from  the  outset"— Pittsburg 
Gazette. 

"The  best    work  by  this   author."  — 
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Over  Yonder.     From  the  German  of  E.  Marlitt ', 

author  of  "  Countess  Gisela,"  "  Gold  Elsie,"  &c.     Third  edition. 
With  a  full-page  Illustration.    8vo.    Paper  cover,  30  cts. 


" '  Over  Yonder'  is  a  charming  novel- 
ette. The  admirers  of  'Old  Mam'selle's 
Secret'  will  give  it  a  glad  reception,  while 
those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  merits  of 


this  author  will  find  in  it  a  pleasant  in- 
troduction to  the  works  of  a  gifted  writer." 
— Daily  Sentinel. 


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tains.     By  A.  K.  McClure.     Illustrated.     i2mo.     Tinted  paper 
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Yovk  Times. 

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us  from  this  region,  and  must  be  read 
with  both  pleasure  and  profit." — Philada. 
North  A  msrican. 

"  We  have  never  seen  a  book  of  Western 
travels  which  so  thoroughly  and  completely 
*atisfied  us  as  this,  nor  one  written  in  such 


agreeable  and  charming  style." — Bradford 
Reporter. 

"  The  letters  contain  many  incidents  of 
Indian  life  and  adventures  of  travel  whicb 
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"  The  book  is  full  of  useful  information.' 
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"  Let  him  who  would  have  some  propel 
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ness of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  read 
this  bo(  k ." — Charleston  {S.  C.)  Courier. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  <Sr-  CO. 


Bulzvcr's  Novels.      Globe   Edition.      Complete  in 

twenty-two  volumes.  With  Frontispiece  to  each  volume.  Beau' 
tifully  printed  on  fine  tinted  paper.  i6mo.  Extra  cloth,  $33  , 
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The  Caxtons I  vol. 

My  Novel 2  vols. 

What  will  He  Do  with  It  ?..2  vols. 

Devereux. I  vol. 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii. .  ..1  vol. 
Leila,  Calderon  and  Pilgrims.  I  v. 

Rienzi I  vol. 

The  Last  of  the  Barons. .  1  vol. 

Harold I  vol. 

Eugene  Aram I  vol. 

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i'udicious  combination  of  cheapness,  legi- 
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cinnati Gazette. 

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"  We  repeat  what  we  have  so  often  be- 
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best  ever  issued  on  this  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic."— New  Orleans  Times. 


Zanoni 1  vol. 

Pelham 1  vol. 

The  Disowned I  vol. 

Paul  Clifford 1  vol. 

Ernest  Maltravers I  vol. 

Godolphin 1  vol. 

Alice 1  vol. 

Night  and  Morning 1  vol. 

Lucretia. 1  vol. 

A  Strange  Story 1  vol. 

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ladelphia publishing  house  upon  furnish- 
ing so  complete,  so  legible,  so  compact 
and  so  beautiful  an  edition  of  the  writings 
of  this  great  novelist.  The  America*, 
book-buying  and  book-reading  public  wi.' 
not  fail  to  place  this  fine  edition  upon  theii 
library'  shelves.  It  is  the  best  cheap  edition 
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c mil  Baptist, 


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